


Another Side, Another Story

by rarmaster, rinrambles



Series: FtPverse [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: hence the archive warning or uh...... lack thereof, most of the chapters are just gen content or silly things but, there are a few that are More Serious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-19
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-12 14:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 54
Words: 122,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11164197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinrambles/pseuds/rinrambles
Summary: A collection of events that happen within FtPverse canon, but didn't make it into the main FtPverse stories for a variety of reasons.





	1. (DI) Lurking Darkness: Side Namiku

**Author's Note:**

> Even though Ao3 easily allows me to sort chapters chronologically without breaking any links, I've decided to keep the chapters sorted in rough order of "when I initially wrote them". However, all chapters are marked with where they fall, so like. You'll be fine.
> 
> That's really all I have to say, because ASAS is self-explanatory. Keep an eye around this space though - there are a LOT of good side scenes that will eventually make their way over here!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 44 of Dead Inside, but from Namine and Riku's POV. This initially was chapter 45 of Dead Inside, but got deleted to make room for other things when I did edits in 2016. I don't think it's majorly important to the plot (there are a million other scenes that convey basically the same thing w/in Dead Inside lol) but it _is_ canon, so it's been moved here to ASAS for preservation purposes. Besides, some people might be interested to know how this scene happened from Namiku's POV, right?

Namine walked into her room and paused, catching a slight ruffle of pages of her sketchbook. She frowned and then glanced around the room.

"Is… someone there?" she asked slowly. She received no response, and she definitely couldn't _see_ anyone. She sighed.

"I guess… I'm just crazy…" she found herself concluding aloud.

 _And I'm talking to myself,_ her thoughts added.

_Lovely…_

She shook her head and then grabbed her sketchbook and a few pencils and went over and sat down on her bed. After a second of thinking, she flipped the sketchbook open. Before long, she was drawing the four of them on the Island. Her, Riku, Sora, and Kairi, all happy, all smiling.

She didn't get far in that though. Quite suddenly, a flood of memories washed over her.

_"I said STOP!" a voice screamed (a voice that sounded oddly like her own, Namine thought later)._

_There was a flash of light, the sound of a body hitting the floor._

The wave of pain that washed over her was amazing. It felt like everything in her brain just exploded, blurring everything, warping everything, _shattering_ everything. A cry of pain left her lips, and she just kept screaming, hoping it would stop. She clutched her head, and vaguely saw her sketchbook hit the floor before her vision blurred and she squeezed her eyes shut.

The memories just kept hitting her, though the pain died down slightly. Her screams just turned into sobbing. Suddenly, however, she felt her fingers being pried away from her head by someone else. She recognized the hand as Riku's and relaxed, letting him take her hand in his. The memories were slowly dying down, though her head still hurt, but she stopped her sobbing. She felt Riku's hand on her cheek and relaxed even more. Had her head not been full of memories, she might have noticed the fact that her heart had skipped a beat.

"Riku…" she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

Riku swallowed, doing his best to keep the smile on his face. Her eyes were shut, but he still wanted to be smiling for her, just in case.

 _Another meltdown? Gosh, this is ridiculous!_ he thought angrily.

_I'm so sick of them, and I'm not even the one who has them! But I just- I can't-_

_I can't stand watching her hurt…_

_And I CAN'T do anything to stop them!_

_I feel like I should be able to…_

He shook his head and put the smile back on his face.

"Namine," he whispered. "It's alright, I'm here now."

She just nodded.

"You'll make it through this," he assured her. "It will all be okay."

_It is every time. It will be okay this time, too._

_It has to be okay…_

Namine took a few deep breaths. With Riku right here, the memories were fading, and the pain was subsiding slightly. She fought to open her eyes again, and though her vision was still blurred slightly, she was happy to find Riku smiling at her, and she did her best to smile back.

"I don't even know what triggered this one!" she said frantically. "I was just sitting here drawing, and it started with no reason!"

Riku threw a glance over his shoulder, as if he felt something there. He frowned. If there _was_ something there, then he'd bet quite a bit that _it_ had triggered the meltdown. He wasn't sure how it would have, but it would pay. However, he wasn't sure if anything was _really_ there, so he turned back to Namine.

"Shh," he whispered, smiling again. He gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "Explain it later. You'll make it worse if you keep talking now."

"Well, actually," she muttered. "It's fading a bit… I think I-" A sudden cry of pain escaped her, stifling that sentence.

Riku's stomach churned, unsure of what to do. She was still clutching her head with one hand, and her fingers slowly curled into a fist. Her grip around Riku's hand tightened, as if she was holding on for dear life. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and Riku swallowed, feeling like something had hit him in the gut.

He shifted slightly, not liking the feeling at all. Within seconds he came to the conclusion that he absolutely _hated_ watching her cry.

"Namine… are you okay?" he whispered.

"I-I can't-" she began, but her words were lost in another scream of pain.

_"Stop!" A voice, a girl's voice, screamed, but it hardly reached him. He lunged forward, blade striking. Sora gasped, blocking the attack with his Keyblade._

_"I'm the one who protects Namine!" the Riku yelled, springing back, distancing himself, then swinging his blade down at Sora again._

_"Just stop! Riku!" the voice cried again._ _He had to tear himself away from her scream. Every part of him wanted to listen, but he ignored it and attacked Sora again, sending him flying._

_"Sora!" the voice gasped._

_That voice… is that… is that me? Namine thought._

_"Ugh… Riku…"_ _Sora tried to stagger to his feet as Riku slowly walked towards him._

_"Looks like I win," Riku laughed, raising his blade, preparing to strike._

_"Riku, you can't!" the voice… Namine… screamed. But Riku swung his blade down at Sora anyways._

_"You are through!" he shouted._

_"Stop!" Namine screamed, and the whole area was wrapped in light._

_His vision misted over. He let out a small gasp. His vision rolled. There was no strength left in his legs. His head hurt. Everything hurt-_

_"Riku…?"_

_He could hear Sora calling him._

_'But… I don't understand,' he thought. Even his thoughts hurt. They were blurry, barely understandable. 'I'm…?'_

_"Riku! Riku!" Sora continued to shout._

_'Sora's voice is so far away…' Riku realized. Anger welled up inside him. 'I hate you, Sora. So why would you call my name out like that? Why would you-'_

_Just as if he were sinking, Riku let go of the last of his consciousness._

_"Please… stop already…" Namine mumbled._

It felt like she was sinking, too. The memories slowly blurred together, and then slowly faded to black.

Riku gasped in shock as she suddenly went limp. Her grip on his hand lessened, and her other hand slowly fell away from her head. She fell forward into him, and though shocked, he still caught her. Her breathing slowly calmed.

 _She just… fainted…_ Riku thought in surprise. He held her for a moment, pondering what he was going to do.

_I should lay her down…_

_Let her sleep…_

_But I-_

He shook his head, clearing that thought. He pulled away from her, and she nearly fell again, but he quickly steadied her and then maneuvered her so she was lying down. He sat there for a second, debating, then grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"It's alright," he told her. "I'm here."


	2. (DI) In which Saix takes advantage of Riku's absence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Riku went to Hollow Bastion](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10978008/chapters/25302000), so what's going to happen to the Rebellion in his absence? Bad things, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a Can't Escape chapter! To explain Can't Escape shortly, me and my sister magik (aka rin, [rinrambles](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rinrambles)) decided to crossover our two KH fics, which is why her Vexen ended up semi-permanently in FtPverse.
> 
> The first half of Can't Escape featured a lot of non-crossovers where magik (with my help!) wrote side scenes within FtPverse's continuity for the heck of it, and this is one of them! All the exciting / important ones are going to be ported to ASAS. [Check out here](http://rarmastersftpverse.blogspot.com/p/cant-escape-navigation.html) to see if there are any Can't Escape chapters I didn't port over that you might still be interested in reading. (This is chapter 32-37, after all...)
> 
> FINAL NOTE: Because it's a Can't Escape chapter, magik co-wrote this one! It's hard to say who wrote what (and it'd be silly to label it anyway imo) but! yanno! keep it in mind or whatever!
> 
> ((Also it's very old so sorry for some Not Great writing in a few spots okay bye.))

**ONE**

"Has anyone seen Tulip?" Amaryllis asked, glancing around.

Everyone was currently cleaning up from the previous raid. The Berserkers had done a lot of damage. A few of the couches were overturned, one table had been completely broken in two, and the chairs weren't fairing to well, either.

"No!" Lotus, a Marluxia Replica who made a particularly good medic, called. "Which is weird, considering he gets hurt almost every raid…" he trailed off, and then returned to helping a Vexen Replica with his wounds.

"Maybe he got himself killed," another Vexen Replica said. This was Number 7, who was also a very good medic, and an expert at running the Repair Program. "I mean, it's not like we could really pay attention to everyone this time around. The Berserkers really caught us by surprise."

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Amaryllis said. "Maybe he slept through this raid. Or just sat this one out because he thought we didn't need him. Someone check his room!"

Another one of the Vexen Replicas nodded and ran off.

Amaryllis continued going around, checking to make sure everyone else was okay. They weren't missing anyone else, it seemed. No one had gotten seriously injured, there wasn't too much damage to Castle Oblivion itself.

But they were still missing Tulip.

"He's not in his room!" the Vexen Replica reported, running back.

Amaryllis frowned. "Then just where is he…?" he muttered.

**xxx**

_Roughly ten or so minutes ago_

Tulip crumpled to his knees, clutching his newly acquired and profusely bleeding shoulder wound. "Shoot," he whispered, trying to get to his feet again. "I need to get out of here. I can't fight like- oof!"

He was shoved to the ground and held there.

"Look what I found!" came the sneering voice of a Larxene Replica. She bent down so she could look him in the eye, and smirked. "An injured Replica! Just what we needed."

Tulip opened his mouth to cry for help, but before he could say anything a dark corridor enveloped the both of them. He stifled his shout, knowing it would do him no good now. Now, they were in the middle of the World that Never Was.

The Larxene Replica straightened. "Oh boys!" she called, sounding all too happy. "I found someone!"

A Vexen Replica and a Lexaeus Replica made their way over. Tulip did his best to sit up, and was disgusted to find a grin on the Larxene Replica's face. She was obviously enjoying this.

 _Great…_  he thought.  _Not only am I terrible at fighting and have nasty luck to get hurt every time, but now I've been kidnapped by a sadistic Replica!_

_This just isn't my day…_

"Take him away!" the Larxene Replica commanded. "I would just  _love_  to stay, but I've got more important things to be doing! Ta-ta!"

 _Well, at least she's gone…_  Tulip told himself, as the two other Replicas grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him to his feet. He let out a small cry of pain. His shoulder hurt.

"Let go of me!" he said, trying to struggle against them. It only caused him more pain. The Lexaeus Replica was holding his injured shoulder.

"Stop your useless struggling!" the Lexaeus Replica said. "It will only make things worse."

They started dragging him off, and Tulip did his best not to whimper, due to the pain. There was silence for a moment, before he asked:

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the Vexen Replica informed him, his voice smug.

And sure enough, he did. They dragged him into an almost completely empty room. All it contained was a chair. The Vexen Replica kicked the door open, and the Lexaeus Replica half shoved, half threw, Tulip into the chair.

"Stay put," the Vexen Replica commanded simply. "We'll deal with you later!"

And with that, they both left, the door slamming behind them.

Tulip quickly formed a dark corridor. However, he only got halfway through before he couldn't go any farther. He swore.

 _What in the Worlds are they going to do with me?_  he wondered, though the thought scared him slightly. He decided not to dwell on it long.

Instead, he just waited patiently.

There was nothing else for him to do.

Well, he  _could_  clutch his bleeding wound and hope that it would stop bleeding soon.

But that was about it.

However, he didn't have to wait long, because soon enough 37 threw the door open and walked in. He had a nasty smirk on his face. "Well then, I suppose this will do," he sighed, sounding not entirely pleased. The smirk never left his face, though, which bothered Tulip.

"We could have hoped for a better fighter… but—"

"When we're through with you, it won't matter," someone else finished. Tulip glanced around 37, slightly surprised to see that Larxene Replica again.

She let out a long exaggerated sigh. "Sorry it took so long," she told 37. "That pesky Alpha sent me to some  _dreadful_  world…"

"I shouldn't have ditched you as soon as I did," 37 replied. "Riku could have killed you—"

"He was too worried about Namine," the Larxene Replica said. "And, miraculously, I came out alive!" She laughed. "I'm glad I did, I wouldn't want to miss this!"

They turned their attention back to Tulip, who was currently gaping at them in shock. There was something about the way they had just acted… something that reminded him vaguely of-

"What are you gaping at!" the Larxene Replica snapped, breaking his thought process.

"I- uh-" Tulip began.

The Larxene Replica chucked a knife at him. It missed him, but only narrowly.

"Careful now," 37 warned. "We can't kill him."

"I wasn't going to kill him," the Larxene Replica replied. "Only harm him."

Tulip shuddered slightly, not liking the look on her face.

"What… what do you want from me?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

The Larxene Replica broke out into a grin. "Oh," she told him. "I don't think that's entirely important." She turned to 37. He nodded, pulling something out of his pocket.

It was a laptop of sorts, though it appeared to be smaller than a usual laptop. 37 flipped the lid open, made a few keystrokes—

And Tulip collapsed.

"We should have kept him around a bit longer," the Larxene Replica mused. "He would have been fun to torture…"

37 closed the laptop and put it away. "I don't see why they brought him here, instead of to the Editing Room," he said. "It would have made things a lot easier. Oh well…"

"Whatever," the Larxene replied with a disinterested sigh. That was quickly replaced, however, by a much more excited mood. "Let's get this stupid Marluxia to the Editing Room!" she laughed. "I can't  _wait_  to start reprogramming him!"

**TWO**

"Shouldn't someone go to Hollow Bastion to observe if she has a meltdown or not? Weren't we all wondering if it was Castle Oblivion triggering them?"

Alpha looked at Vexen over his very large book.

"Since when do you care so much?" he asked. "Unless this is just some weird relation to the fact that you feel protective over Riku because you were the one to create him."

"You care too when she's having one and he's at everyone's throats," Vexen replied, sounding slightly hurt.

Alpha sighed and looked over his glasses at Vexen. "You have a valid point. However, we really can't spare anyone. Riku's arguably our best fighter. And all of our good researchers also happen to be good fighters.

"What about sending Joseph?" Vexen mused. "I could probably teach him how to take good notes."

"Don't let him hear you say that," 29 cautioned, walking past.

"He'd just get into more trouble there," Alpha said. "And I doubt he'd take good notes, even if you did take the time to teach him."

Vexen shrugged. "I was just considering all the people that we don't necessarily want here during a raid."

Alpha decided that he didn't want to be a part of this conversation anymore, so he returned to his book.

"They're not going to be there long," Vexen continued. "We should jump on this opportunity."

Alpha sighed.

"Perhaps I should just go…"

"Your decision, I suppose," Alpha said, now just trying to get Vexen to be quiet. "But if we have a raid and you're not here, I'll kill you myself."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment to my fighting ability."

Alpha was going to pointedly ignore that comment, but he was distracted by a dark corridor. He slowly lowered his book and took off his glasses. It wasn't a raid—raids started with several dark corridors at once, or someone charging through the front doors.

"Tulip, is that you?" Thistle asked.

The Marluxia Replica who walked out of the dark corridor was indeed, Tulip. However, something had changed about him…

…because he had just pulled out his scythe on Thistle and wasn't making any apologies about messed-up data.

And then the rest of the raid arrived.

"Guess I'll stay here then," Vexen muttered.

Alpha swore under his breath. They were about to find out just how much Riku was helping them. And based on his calculations, Riku did quite a lot.

**xxx**

"Tulip, what have they turned you into?" 23 muttered, watching the fight take place from the sidelines. He shook his head, slightly disgusted, but only slightly.

"I didn't realize they would rewrite you entirely," he continued, voice even quieter than it had been before.

He winced slightly, as someone in the fight he was watching took a rather nasty blow. And that someone hadn't been Tulip. 23 gasped slightly as the Vexen Replica stumbled back to his feet. It was 19.

"Tulip!" 19 said, his voice desperate. "Would you just  _listen_  to me! This isn't you! This isn't—"

23 looked away.

"I am sorry," he whispered.

And then he walked off, paying no attention to the fight, and not drawing his weapon to aid in any way, either.

**xxx**

"You are right," Tulip, who was not really Tulip, said plainly, hefting his scythe to strike again. "I am not Tulip, not anymore. I am much stronger."

"And you're working for Saix!" 19 shouted, dodging out of the way of the scythe. "You said you hated him! He never liked you, because you were—"

"Defective," the New Tulip finished, and then laughed. "But I am defective no longer!" And again, he slashed with his scythe, missing 19 only narrowly.

"I won't fight you!" 19 gasped, his voice desperate.

"Chose so at your own wish," the New Tulip laughed. "But be warned, you are bringing your own demise upon you!"

He struck yet again, and actually hit 19 this time. The scythe scraped him across the cheek and he stumbled back, clutching the newly formed and bleeding wound. The New Tulip grinned a wicked grin, and prepared to deal the final blow while 19 was off guard.

"Tulip, I am very disappointed in you," came a small voice.

He glanced down, surprised to find Joseph guarding 19. The look on Joseph's face was an odd one. It was mix of disgust, and anger, and yet… pity.

"I can't believe I wasted perfectly good WINNER sticks on you," Joseph muttered. Then he turned away. He grabbed 19 by the hand and formed a dark corridor around them both.

The New Tulip made a face, but then quickly located his next victim.

**xxx**

_Things are going better than usual,_  Larxene L laughed to herself, watching as Tulip took incapacitated yet another Replica. Yet again, though, said Replica formed a dark corridor around themselves before Tulip could deliver the final blow.

Larxene L groaned. "What's the point of a Killer if he doesn't kill anyone!" she muttered, and then turned and kicked an advancing Vexen Replica in the gut. He was sent flying and skidded across the floor. She walked over to him, and placed a foot on his chest before he could get back up.

"Maybe I should take you in for a Rewrite, too," she sneered.

"Vexen Replicas… don't make good fighters!" he stuttered. "How would you make any use of me?"

"Good point," she sighed, and then whistled. Immediately, Tulip turned around.

"Over here!" she called in a sing-song voice.

And very quickly, she moved out of the way. Tulip brought his scythe swinging down-

Larxene L looked away. She didn't need to  _watch_  the Vexen Replica die. His cries of anguish were enough.

 _That's the first we've managed to kill, isn't it?_  she thought, and then grinned.  _Things really ARE going well this time!_

_But… isn't there something missing?_

She glanced around. Sure enough, she was having trouble locating a certain someone. A certain someone who would have killed her by this point, except— he wasn't anywhere in sight. She frowned.

Before she could get anywhere on figuring out just  _where_  Riku was, a Marluxia Replica attacked her. She dodged out of the way.

 _These guys are SOO annoying,_  she groaned, as she punched him.  _How much longer is 37 going to take? He should have been done by now!_

**THREE**

Alpha arrived in the computer room to quite the shock. 37 was already there, fiddling with the computer. His eyes narrowed into a glare, watching as 37 typed away at the computer. He could have  _sworn_  he had password locked it.

Then again, he had heard that 37 had always been good with computers, so he wouldn't be surprised if he was an experienced hacker.

"You really need to be quicker about this," 37 laughed, catching Alpha out of the corner of his eye. He did not turn to him though, and just continued typing. "Though, I suppose it won't matter after this, because as soon as I'm done here, the Rebellion won't be much of an issue."

It was then that Alpha glimpsed the program that 37 had up on the computer.

It was the Replica Archive.

 _He's planning to Deactivate all of us!_  Alpha realized, watching as 37 moved on to another window and started typing the same code that he had entered everywhere else. Had he managed to figure out a way to enact edits on multiple Replicas at once? Alpha bitterly wished _he’d_ figured something like that out, but more pressingly—As soon as 37 enacted those edits, all the Replicas he’d marked for Deactivation would fall.

"You can't do that," Alpha said, though he felt like an idiot for not coming up with something more… original to say.

"Of course I can," 37 replied, rolling his eyes. "What do you think I'm doing right now?"

"I mean, I won't let you," Alpha said. And then he closed his eyes, trying to recall the simplest Illusion that he could do without actually summoning his Lexicon.

The room shifted, changing to a completely white space. 37 stopped typing, as there was no longer a computer for which he could type commands into. Well, there might have still been, but he couldn't see it. And he wouldn't dare type blindly, for fear of a mistake.

But… he had already marked Alpha for Deactivation. If he could only hit the enter key…

He slowly placed his fingers on where the keyboard  _had_  been, and was relieved that he could still feel it.

 _The first step to an illusion is making a person see what isn't there,_  Alpha recited to himself.  _The second step is to make them believe in what they see, no matter how fake it may be…_

And suddenly, 37 found no keyboard beneath his fingers. He frowned and turned to Alpha, who stood there with a slight smile on his face.

 _That little…_  37 thought. He shook his head and focused on reminding himself of the fact that this was only an illusion, and that the keyboard was still _there_ —

"Alpha!" someone cried.

The illusion broke as Alpha turned around, wondering who in the Worlds could be interrupting him, and feeling slightly upset that he had been distracted. Thistle stood there, looking panicked. Alpha groaned.

"Thistle, whatever it is, I don't have time for it," Alpha said, trying to remain patient. He could hear 37 typing again, and was glad that 37 hadn't already initiated the changes he had made. "Do you not see 37 trying to get into the—"

"I came to warn you about 19!" Thistle gasped.

Alpha stopped short and frowned.

"Tulip's killed 22, and 19 isn't happy at all," Thistle explained, trying to calm himself down as he said it. He had, however, caught sight of what 37 was doing, and it wasn't helping his nerves at all.

"Is he planning on heading this way?" Alpha asked.

Thistle nodded.

Alpha made a face. He wasn't too about how he felt towards an angry 19 trying to avenge his little brother coming this way. And there wasn't much time to worry about it, either. 37 would have to be done any minute—

"What did you do to Tulip!" came 19's angry shout, as he barged though the hallway over to them. He shoved Alpha aside, so he could glare at 37.

"What does it matter—" 37 began, but was stopped as 19 was suddenly at his throat.

"I helped  _build_  Tulip," 19 hissed. "And I know he was never a good fighter, he never really needed to be, but that doesn't give you the right to  _rewrite_  him!"

"Since when do  _you_  have the right to tell me what I can and can't do?" 37 sneered. "Vexen is no longer in charge of the Program. And I have permission straight from Saix—"

"You turned him into a killer!" 19 shouted. "A  _killer!_  It would have been bad enough if you had only edited him so he believed he worked for Saix, bad enough if you had fixed his slight lapses in fighting, just so you had another fighter on your side, but you  _had_  to turn him into a killer! Someone who spends the entire battle searching for enemies caught off guard, only so he can take them down—"

"It- it wasn't my idea!" 37 stammered, fear in his eyes now. "Larxene L suggested that we—"

"And why did you listen to her!" 19 screamed. "We all know that ideas of  _anyone_  who thinks like Larxene are typically faulty! It doesn't matter if this one actually  _worked_ —"

The fear in 37's eyes was replaced by anger. "The past three ides she has suggested turned out perfectly fine!" he protested.

 _And I bet it was her idea that he try and Deactivate the entire Rebellion,_ Alpha thought. Then he gasped slightly in shock, noticing something. All though 19 had 37 pinned to the wall, 37 could still reach the computer. And currently, he was about to hit enter-

Thinking quickly, Alpha did something he wouldn't have dared to do had this been any other circumstance. He unplugged the computer.

37 swore.

Alpha smiled slightly.

"What's taking you so long!" a demanding and slightly whiney voice called. "I gave you all the time you could  _possibly_  need to Deactivate the Rebellion, and yet they're  _still—_ "

Larxene L stopped short, glancing at the scene around her. Her eyes fell first on the scared-for-his-life Thistle, who she rolled her eyes at, then on the completely blank computer screen, which she glared at, and then her eyes finally rested on 37.

She sighed.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she muttered.

"YOU!" 19 shouted, turning on her. "It was you—" he took a step towards her, ready to attack. "You're the one who—"

He never got the rest of that sentence out. 37 had taken this opportunity to summon his shield and bash 19 over the head. 19 crumpled to the ground, effectively knocked unconscious.

Alpha frowned at 37. "That was uncalled for," he said, or rather,  _tried_ to say. About halfway through the sentence, a jolt of lightning went through him, and what was left of his sentence came out slurred.

 _No wonder Riku hates lightning so much…_  Alpha found himself wondering, as he, too, crumpled to the ground. He could feel his consciousness starting to fade, and swore to himself. But before his conscious faded completely, he caught the oddest bit of conversation:

"Darling, I could have handled that myself," 37 said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Of course, sweetie," Larxene L laughed, sounding like she didn't believe him at all.

 _I had to have heard them wrong,_  Alpha thought.  _The lightning's messing with my brain, or—_

And at that, he lost consciousness completely.

 

 

**FOUR**

"Why can't you just turn the computer back on?"

Joseph stopped, filling with dread. Very,  _very_  quietly, he peeked into the Computer Room. Sure enough, there stood 37, accompanied by Larxene L. He winced, noting that  _both_  19 and Alpha were unconscious. However, the  _most_  surprising part of this scene was how much 37 and Larxene L were bickering.

"It's more complicated than it looks!" 37 replied, casting an annoyed glance over his shoulder at Larxene L. Joseph made a face. That annoyance wasn't anywhere  _near_  what he had seen 37 have before. "Alpha unplugged the darn thing!"

"Just plug it back in!" Larxene L said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

37 cast her a 'no-duh' look.

"I wish it were that simple," he muttered. "But it was unplugged during a critical part of the data initiation, I will be very surprised if—" he paused, and made a face, realizing that Larxene L probably wasn't following him at all. "You know when a computer tells you not to turn it off because it's in the middle of something?" he said instead.

Larxene L glared at him. "I'm not five!"

Joseph snorted. Luckily, neither of them noticed.

 _I really should do something about them,_  he thought.  _They probably are responsible for… no, they ARE responsible for Alpha and 19 being unconscious._

_But…_

He grinned.

_Their bickering is amusing…_

"So you're saying that getting the files might be impossible now?" Larxene L asked, and then laughed. "Saix isn't going to be happy about this!"

"Saix isn't going to find out about this," 37 replied, as he quickly entered a few commands on the computer. It beeped at him. He swore.

"Ooh! Naughty mouth!" Larxene L giggled, placing a hand on 37's shoulder.

Joseph nearly puked.

_Just what is it with them! They're acting like—_

_EW._

He actually  _did_  puke slightly.

_This is disgusting! I'm not going to stand here and listen to them anymore!_

And, that decided, he pulled his star shard out of his pocket and did what he had considered doing to Riku many times, but never actually had the guts. He reached forward, still unnoticed, and grabbed the edge of Larxene L's cloak. He waited a split second, until 37 had his hands off of the computer, and then activated the star shard-

They appeared in a completely empty room of the Castle. Joseph quickly distanced himself from Larxene L, merely out of reflex, but partially just to trick her into-

"You little—" she shouted, charging up a lightning bolt.

Or  _trying_  to charge up a lightning bolt.

It flickered in and out of existence with in the span of a half second. She frowned, and then tried again, but with the same results. She swore.

37 raised his eyebrows.

Joseph grinned.

"All abilities of  _every_  Replica are offline while remaining in this room," he informed them, trying his hardest not to laugh as he did so.

"I don't need lightning to hurt you!" Larxene L shouted, and lunged forward. 37 thought about restraining her, but then thought better of it.

Joseph quickly dodged out of the way, and her fist nearly missed his head. He quickly pulled out his wooden sword, and this time when she attacked he hit her hard in the side. It probably didn't hurt much, but was enough to make her miss.

They went on like this for a bit. She only managed to punch him once, but it was right in the nose, and hard enough to make him bleed. He didn't stop though, and continued to whack her with his wooden sword, harder and harder each time. He doubted it was actually hurting her, but was surprised when she doubled over in pain at one point.

Grinning, Joseph rushed forward, blade ready to strike. He knew it wouldn't do him much good, but it would definitely be fun.

However, before he could actually hit her, 37 had picked him up by the collar of his shirt and held him back. He kicked at the air for a bit, as if it would make 37 drop him. Larxene L finally straightened and stalked forward, glaring.

Joseph glared right back.

"You can' kiw beh," he declared, though the sentence came out rather mangled due to his nose. He grinned a crooked grin—

—only to have her snatch his sword away from him.

"Hey!" he shouted, struggling against 37 again. "Giffat back!"

She raised her eyebrows, completely un-amused. "Oh, you really think I will?" she sneered. And then, right in front of him, she snapped it in half.

"Hey!" Joseph shouted.

Now she grinned, cruelly, and tossed the broken pieces aside.

"Let's see how well you can fight  _now,_ " she laughed.

Joseph made a face and then kicked 37 as hard as he could. Thankfully, this caused 37 to drop him, albeit flat on his face. He rolled to the side before Larxene L got any ideas of pinning him there, and quickly fished his star shard back out of his pocket and activated it.

He landed on his hands and knees in the middle of the Main Room, which wasn't in a very good state at all. Tulip was nowhere to be seen, but that was about the only good news.

"Joseph! What happened to you!"

Joseph turned, and sure enough, there was 29, rushing over to make sure that he was okay. He rolled his eyes slightly.

"Larkfene anb firdyseben," he explained, grimacing at how bad he sounded. "Gowt dem out udda compudder oob…"

"Are you okay?" 29 demanded.

"Yah! Imb find!" Joseph exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet and pocketing his star shard. He dusted himself off. "Losht by sword, doh…" He sighed and made a face. He had grown fond of that sword, and had no idea where he could possibly replace it.

"Where did you take them?" 29 asked.

"Dat abiwity pwoof oob," Joseph said with a wave of his hand starting off.

"And what do you think we're going to do with them?" 29 called.

"I dond know," Joseph replied. "Bud sumbfink before Riku gebfs back."

 

 

 

**FIVE**

"This is so  _stupid_!" Larxene L cried, not for the first time. She held half of Joseph's sword, and was currently examining it. They sat on the floor, having nothing better to do, really. The room lacked furniture.

"Careful," 37 warned. "You might get a splinter."

"Oh, I might get a splinter, huh?" she asked, bitterly. "Yes, because that's  _really_  the most important thing right now!" She turned and whacked him over the head. "Did you  _miss_  the part concerning the fact that we're  _locked_  in a room without  _any of_ our abilities? I can't even form a lightning bolt to chuck at the wall!"

"Ah, yes, that is a wonderful use of your abilities," 37 replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't have cared if we were in a corridor proof room!" she argued, rather exasperated. "Then at least I could have  _killed_  that blasted mistake! If not sat here and—"

"Tortured him for your own enjoyment?" 37 finished. "You realize how completely childish that is, right?"

She made a face, and then chucked the half of sword at him and rose to her feet.

"You're ridiculous, you know that!" she snapped, and then turned away and walked across the room, making a point not to look at him as she did so. "Sometimes I wonder why I—" she stopped suddenly.

"Go on," 37 said, rising to his feet. "Why you what?"

"Nothing," she muttered.

Gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can go ahead and tell me," he whispered.

She cast a glance at him, then shoved his hand away.

"Nope, we're not going  _there_  again," she exclaimed. "Especially not after—"

For once, anger towards her flared up inside 37. He quickly covered her mouth with his hand, much to her displeasure. "You mustn't speak of him!" he hissed.

Angrily she pulled his and away and put a large distance between the two of them. "Are you insane!" she demanded.

"You know what Saix will do if speak of him!" 37 replied simply. "He will not hesitate to kill us, even if we are his two most faithful Replicas!"

"Well it's his fault for—" Larxene L began, and then stopped, catching the look 37 was giving her. She frowned, and then sighed. "Fine," she muttered, pouting slightly.

He laughed.

And, though she tried hard not to, she smiled, too.

There was silence for a moment, and then, very quietly, she asked:

"Saix laughs at us, doesn't he?"

"Saix doesn't have the heart to laugh with," 37 assured her.

"I know, but- with his stupid theory that Replicas don't have emotions, he's convinced himself into thinking he has  _something_  of a heart," Larxene L whispered. "Enough, at least, that he can scoff at us."

Uncertainly, 37 reached out and grabbed her hand.

"He can laugh all he likes. It doesn't change anything."

She stared to say something in response, but was interrupted by a dark corridor opening not far from them. They both stared at it in shock.

"I thought this room was corridor proof…" 37 said slowly, frowning.

"That little twerp only said it blocked abilities of Replicas in this room," Larxene L pointed out. "So, theoretically, you can get  _in_ …"

"Are you two coming or what!" someone called, and then Xigbar's Clone stuck his head through the corridor. "You're pretty lucky I'm getting you out of here. Normally, I don't do this kind of thing, but Saix is in a bad enough mood already—"

"We're coming!" Larxene L replied, tensely, pulling her hand away from 37. Very quickly, she headed through the dark corridor.

"I saw that, by the way," Xigbar's Clone laughed.

Larxene L, through the dark corridor by now, summoned her knives and had them at his throat in seconds. "You saw  _nothing!_ " she hissed.

He held his hands up in defeat. "Okay! Okay! I saw nothing!"

Satisfied, Larxene L walked off.

"She's  _crazy_!" Xigbar's Clone told 37, as he closed the dark corridor behind him. "I don't see how you can put up with her!"

37 didn't bother to respond.

**xxx**

The Computer Room was fuller than it usually was. Alpha and 19 were both unconscious still, and had been put up against the wall to wake up in semi-peace. 2 stood monitoring all the cameras and getting all the typical functions of the Computer back online. He had to in order to get the Repair Program back up. The usual Medics were now seeing to those who were injured. 7 had been given the unfortunate job of dealing with 22's body. 22 was the only one that had actually died that day. Joseph had apparently seen fit to keep Tulip from killing anyone else and Tulip apparently couldn't kill Joseph.

Which was going to end up becoming a crucial thing unless something was done about Tulip.

2 checked the cameras again. He was trying to locate everyone. Vexen had said that he'd do it, but 2 was much more content to let Vexen update the Catalog of Replicas, considering there had been some changes in sides and a few changes in status. He'd found everyone except 23, who hadn't been seen since before the battle.

"Did you check his room?" Vexen asked.

2 sighed and pulled up 23's room. Sure enough, there was 23, looking like he was asleep.

"I don't remember the last time he slept," murmured the Lexaeus Replica. "He could have just passed out from exhaustion and didn't even know about the raid."

"You know, I honestly thought Riku was the only one to do that," Amaryllis said.

The Lexaeus shrugged.

2 ignored them and went back to monitoring their prisoners. Larxene L and 37 were still in the ability-proof room thanks to Joseph.

"What are we going to do with them?" he murmured, rubbing his temples.

Part of him just wanted to let them stay there until Riku showed back up. Riku could dispose of both of them easily, considering he was the only one who actually had abilities in that room since he wasn't in this System. Or he could ask Axel… but Axel probably wouldn't be willing to destroy Saix's two most loyal Replicas.

Come to think of it, Axel hadn't been around in a while. Probably too busy keeping face.

The computer started bleeping.

"Would someone like to tell me what the he—" Alpha began, waking up.

2 motioned for him to be quiet. Alpha swallowed his sentence and got up to see what was going on.

A dark corridor had just appeared in the ability-proof room. Someone knew that room was there and knew that you could get in, but not out via dark corridor.

"I can't see who it is!" 2 said.

"Move over," Alpha said, frantically typing in commands to the computer.

But by the time, Larxene L and 37 had disappeared into the dark corridor.

"Looks like they'll be back to annoy us another day," Amaryllis said sadly.

"Did anyone else notice that they were holding hands?" the Lexaeus asked.

Alpha shuddered. "I wondered… but I thought I'd just been clonked on the head too hard."

"Ignoring that grossness, can we get audio from that room to figure out who it was?" 2 asked.

"Yes," Alpha said. "However the answer should be pretty simple. It's a Replica on Saix's side. None of us would go in there and get them out…"

"It would also be someone who knew that you could get into that room," the Lexaeus said.

"The only Replicas who  _didn't_ know that were the Larxene Replicas and the latter half of the Vexen Replicas, and  _maybe_ some of the Marluxias," Alpha said simply.

"I didn't know that," the Lexaeus said.

"Okay, I stand corrected, congratulations," Alpha said, slightly miffed.

None of them noticed that while they were all arguing, Vexen had come up and retrieved the audio. He pressed 'play.'

'She's  _crazy_! I don't see how you put up with her!' came the unmistakable voice of Xigbar.

"I'm not surprised," Amaryllis said.

 

 

 

**SIX**

"That was more corridor action," Alpha said, shoving Vexen out of the way as the computer bleeped again. After a moment he concluded: "Never mind, it was just 6. He decided it would be a great idea to corridor into his room rather than use the door."

"Most of us do that," Amaryllis said.

"6 was already standing in front of his door," 2 said with a sigh.

"Was that a star shard that just went off?" the Lexaeus said, casually looking over at the still-bleeping computer.

"Joseph just went somewhere," Vexen said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Amaryllis laughed. "Does 29 know?"

"I'm going to kill 37 myself," 19 said, finally waking up. "After I Reprogram Tulip back to normal."

"You do realize that we're locked out of the Rewriting Program, right?" Alpha said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll figure something out," 19 muttered. "Where's 22?"

"7's taking care of him," 2 said. "If you want…"

19 was already out the door.

"I'm going to write that off as him getting hit on the head," Alpha said. "For he  _knows_ that we can't Rewrite anyone."

**xxx**

Joseph had wanted to go immediately somewhere in search of a replacement sword. However, his nose convinced him to use the Repair Program first. He sat down across from Lotus, making a face as he did so.

"Keep doing that and I'll fix it so your face stays that way permanently," Lotus said, not entirely teasing.

Joseph sighed and relaxed his face. Lotus ran the Repair Program on Joseph's nose.

29 came and sat down next to Joseph, holding his shoulder as he did so.

"See! Aweas I oo…"

"Use the Repair Program?" 29 finished for Joseph, so that Joseph would stop talking while Lotus fixed his face.

Joseph would have nodded, but that would defeat the purpose.

29 shifted and winced. Tulip may have been Reprogrammed into a killing machine, but he still had a thing for shoulders. At this rate, he'd start looking like Riku…

"Up!" Lotus said. "You're done."

Joseph moved out of the way so that 29 could get Repaired.

"I'm very proud of what you did today, Joseph," 29 said quietly.

Joseph stopped dead in his tracks. "Really?" he asked.

29 nodded. "You were very helpful today."

"Does that mean…?"

29 grimaced. Though, it was unclear whether this was from the Repair or Joseph's question.

"I'd still prefer if you stayed out of the fray. I don't want it to be something more than your nose that gets broken next time."

Joseph sighed.

"But, we are still grateful," 29 said.

A smile began to form at the corners of Joseph's mouth.

"Hey," he said. "Do you think I could go to Twilight Town or something?"

29 nodded.

"Really?" Joseph asked, his eyes wide.

29 reached into his pocket and pulled out some munny.

"I still have WINNER sticks," Joseph said.

"I know, but Namine said you were running low. Have one on me today."

Joseph nodded and took the munny.

"Thanks," he said.

29 nodded.

Joseph activated the star shard.

 


	3. (DI) A Strange Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph takes a usual, run-of-the-mill visit to Twilight Town for ice cream, and runs into a pair of decidedly _un_ usual Keyblade Wielders. And, like, a bunch of Berserkers. UGH.

Aqua and Ven were in Twilight Town. There had been a problem with a bunch of lesser Nobodies hanging out in the area as of late, a problem which that greatly disturbed the usually peaceful locals who weren’t quite used to chaos. Since no one else seemed to be able to take care of it, they were stuck with the job. Well, they’d _offered_ —it was a Keyblade Wielder’s duty to help keel the balance, so of course they’d offered.

As a result of their offering, Tram Common was filled with a lot more magic, slashing Keyblades, and dying Nobodies than it normally was.

Nobodies were… strange to fight, Aqua admitted. Nothing like the Heartless she was used to fighting, and not much like Unversed, either. (Though her memories of fighting the Unversed were distant, at best.) Nobodies moved weird, seemed a little smarter, and most unsettling—

She couldn’t feel them.

Aqua’d always been able to sense a sort of presence, from people, from animals, from Heartless—even the Unversed had a distinct sort of signature about them. But Nobodies? From them, she felt nothing at all.

And, as someone who’d relied at least partially on her sixth sense the entirety of her life, fighting them was the slightest bit harder.

They were just as weak to magic as everything else though, so they went down just as easily. At least there was that.

“Hey, Aqua!” Ven exclaimed suddenly. When she turned, knowing that was a call for her attention, she saw him paused by a wall, staring intently at a poster. “Do you think I could enter the next Struggle Match? It’s not too far away from now!”

Aqua sighed and cast Blizzaga at the Dusk sneaking up on the boy. He didn’t even turn around! “Ven, we really don’t have time for that,” she called. She felt bad for having to forbid him from entering the match, seeing as they hadn’t done anything “fun” for quite some time now. (Months, she’d pretty sure it had been, but time was hazy, had been hazy since getting out of the Realm of Darkness.)

Regardless, they had to find Terra. They couldn’t afford distractions.

“C’mon Aqua,” Ven pleaded (though at least he went back to fighting as he did so). “Why not? We could use a day’s break! I bet you could enter, too!”

She was silent for a moment, thinking, and took that time to kill a nearby Dusk with her blade. She probably wouldn’t enter herself—it’d be unfair to any opponent—but maybe they could afford to let Ven answer.

So she asked: “When is it?”

“Next week!” Ven replied, beaming from ear to ear. “Does that mean yes?”

“That means I’ll think about it,” Aqua laughed.

Ven made a face, unsure if he should be disappointed or excited. He decided not to worry about it and went back to killing Dusks. Aqua did the same. They said nothing for a minute or so, in which time they managed to get rid of the rest of the Dusks.

“Alright!” Ven laughed. “That was the last of them!” He banished blade and then turned to Aqua, grinning. “Now what do we—” he stopped rather suddenly, frowning.

“What?” Aqua asked.

“Did you hear that?” he asked in response.

Aqua frowned and strained her ears. She couldn’t hear whatever it was Ven was talking about, and started to ask him about it, but didn’t get the chance. He was already running off, blade in his hand again. She ran after him.

She could hear it, as they got closer.

“What. The. HECK!?” someone was shouting. “Since WHEN did the Organization start sending lesser Nobodies to Twilight Town?”

Aqua rounded the corner, and was quite surprised to be faced with two Berserkers. Ven was fighting one off to the side, and there were three more standing in a circle around—

She gasped.

A young boy, at least a few years younger than Ven, was standing in the center of that circle, frantically trying to keep the Berserkers away with his wooden sword and shouting insults at them.

“Does Saix want me dead _that_ badly?” the boy continued, sounding rather exasperated. “Because this. Is. Ridiculous!” He impacted each word by whacking a Berserker in turn. “I guess I should be flattered! Saix thinks I’m annoying enough to send Berserkers after me instead of just trying to kill me when he sees me! WONDERFUL!”

He angrily whacked one of the Berserkers, though it didn’t do much more than anger it. It raised its claymore and attacked, knocking the boy back quite a few feet. Aqua grit her teeth, tired of just watching. She called down a Thundaga—something stronger than a Thundaga, actually—to take care of the two Berserkers in front of her. From there it was easiest to turn her energy into Mega Flare to dispatch the remaining four Berserkers, including the one Ven was fighting.

“Well, that works!” Ven laughed, dropping back to the ground. Aqua turned her attention to the boy.

“I’m alright!” he called before she could get there. And, sure enough, he _was_ pushing himself to his feet, looking annoyed, not in pain.

Aqua moved his direction anyway, as did Ven. And, despite the boy’s insistences, Aqua tossed up a Curaga for him.

“I said I was fine,” he whined, dusting himself off. “I’m used to Berserkers. Just- I don’t understand why they’re _here_. Twilight Town is USUALLY pretty peaceful!” He made a face.

“You come here often?” Aqua asked.

He nodded.

“I get ice cream here as often as tw- uh, my guardian lets me, which _might_ be a lot less if he finds out there’s Berserkers hanging around…” He sighed. “Anyway! My name’s Joseph!” He grinned. “Thanks for helping me out. I’m no good with an actual weapon.” He lifted his wooden sword, shrugged, and then shoved it into his belt.

Ven laughed. “Hey, it’s no problem,” he said. “I’m sure if you practice you’ll be good in no time.” He grinned, too, mirroring Joseph’s childlike excitement. “I’m Ventus, but you can call me Ven.”

The grin on Joseph’s face shifted, going from childlike to sometime more sly. “Nah,” he said, eyes glinting with amusement. “I think I’ll call you Ventus just to bug you.”

Ven downright _pouted_. Aqua laughed.

“I kid, I kid!” Joseph laughed. He turned to Aqua. “What’s your name?”

“Aqua,” she replied.

“Nice to meet you,” Joseph said, nodding slightly. “I should get you guys some ice cream as repayment for helping me out.”

Aqua politely shook her head. “Thank you,” she told him. “But I’m afraid we can’t take you up on that offer—”

“Munny’s no issue,” Joseph laughed, reaching into his pocket. Aqua watched, almost expecting him to produce a handful of larger munny pieces, but was surprised when he pulled out four popsicle sticks instead. Each had the word WINNER branded on it.

“Whoa!” Ven exclaimed, staring. Aqua thought about saying something, but was distracted when Joseph frowned in confusion.

“That’s funny…” he whispered. “I could’ve have sworn I only had three yesterday…” He shook his head and then glanced up, the grin returning to his face. “Whatever, c’mon!”

And before Aqua could say any more to deter him from getting them ice cream, he started off.

“Should we follow him?” Ven asked, turning to her. His voice, however, suggested that he was asking something more like: “can I follow him?”, which she smiled at. Ven was such a kid sometimes.

“I don’t think we get a choice in this matter,” she laughed.

“Guess you’re right!” Ven agreed, like it was a bad thing, except he was grinning. He ran after Joseph.

Aqua sighed, and then followed after the boys. By the time she caught up to them, Joseph had purchased the ice cream, and Ven was already eating his. Joseph handed Aqua her ice cream. He started to take a bite of his own, before pausing, casting a glance at Ven.

He frowned.

“What’s up?” Ven asked, around a mouthful of ice cream.

“Well I didn’t say anything sooner because I was getting attacked, and then I was worried about introductions but…” He trailed off, squinting at Ven a moment longer, then he laughed and shook his head. “Aw, it’s nothing! You just look, like, a _lot_ like someone else I know? But I know you can’t be him, so don’t worry about it.”

“Uh, okay,” Ven answered.

Joseph muttered something about “besides, maybe Roxas was actually…” and a few other confusing and intriguing things. Aqua wanted to ask him to elaborate, but as she opened her mouth to do so, realized it was full of ice cream. She’d taken a bite a few seconds back without even thinking about it.

By the time she’d swallowed, Joseph had changed the subject.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked them

“Dealing with a Nobody problem,” Ven replied.

“What for— AW HECK NOT AGAIN!”

Aqua turned to see what had caught Joseph’s attention, and was _very_ surprised to find another Berserker standing there. She started to summon her blade, but Ven stopped her.

“I got it!” he laughed. He ate the last chunk of his ice cream, summoned his own blade and then rushed in to attack.

Aqua watched for a second, making sure that he did, indeed, have it taken care of. Ven had a habit of getting overconfident at times. But given the competition that was Aqua herself (as much as she _tried_ not to be competition, she just couldn’t help it since she’d gotten years of ‘practice’ while he was sleeping—) it was entirely unsurprising.

“Am I attracting them or something…?” Joseph muttered, pulling out of her musings.

Aqua turned to him. He was regarding his ice cream with an odd expression, but she had a feeling it wasn’t the ice cream he had a problem with. She knelt down so could look him in the eye. She frowned slightly, now that she could get a better look at him. His face, though still structured like a child’s, portrayed a sense of seriousness and understanding that seemed well beyond him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Joseph,” she said, seriously. Better to get straight to the point. “Did you say someone wanted to _kill_ you, earlier?”

He stared at her a moment. She couldn’t quite read the look in his eyes.

Then, he said: “Saix.” He was very rough about the way he said it.

“Who is he?” Aqua pressed. The name sparked no recognition. “And why does he want to kill you?”

Joseph turned away. “You’re not going to understand,” he whispered.

“Then try and make me understand,” she replied, voice still quiet and kind. “It’s my job to help people. And you shouldn’t have to deal with something like that!”

“You have to promise not to freak out, kay?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He turned back to her, his eyes sharp. “I am a Replica,” he explained, voice steady. “But I am not Programmed to fight, I am not Programmed for anything really. And, in Saix’s eyes, that makes me useless; a mistake. He has, so far, killed every other Replica he deemed a mistake except me.”

Aqua couldn’t help herself. The news was so surprising, so casually terrifying, that she gasped. And then she covered her mouth, as if that would cover it up. Joseph threw her a wry look.

“You’re freaking,” he stated plainly. There was humor in his voice, though, and he did finish off his ice cream as he said this.

“Well-” she began.

“Aqua!” Ven shouted. “Watch out! There’s another- ah!”

Aqua turned just in time to see Ven get hit by one Berserker while he had been trying to warn her that another had shown up. He was thrown past her, hitting the wall of the ice cream shop and then falling to the ground. He didn’t get back up.

“Ven!” she screamed, scrambling to go help him. Joseph caught her by the arm.

“Take care of the Berserkers,” he told her firmly, taking her half-eaten ice cream from her. “I’ll help him out.”

She stared at him for a second, unsure if she should listen. She wanted to help Ven; she _needed_ to help Ven. How could she be sure that he’d be okay if she let Joseph look after him? And yet—

Yet Joseph couldn’t fight. She could.

“Go!” Joseph commanded.

She nodded and summoned her blade, noticing that Joseph stared at it for a split second. She charged into battle before she bothered to give that much thought, though. She located the Berserker that Ven had been fighting originally (it had less health) and finished it off so that she wouldn’t have to worry about fighting two Berserkers at the same time. The second Berserker didn’t last long, though. After a few Blizzagas, it was dead.

“He’s alright,” Joseph informed her when she came over to make sure Ven was okay. Ven was now leaning against the wall. “I gave him a potion.”

Aqua nodded, but knelt down next to Ven anyway.

“Hey, Ven, you okay?” she asked, gently placing a hand on his cheek. He rolled his eyes and pushed her hand away.

“I’m fine, Aqua,” he laughed.

She smiled, and then ruffled his hair. He made a face, but didn’t say anything about it.

“Hey, Aqua,” Joseph said. She turned to him. “Could you… summon your blade for me?” he asked, slowly, as if he weren’t quite certain if he were allowed to ask such a question. “I- I want to see what it looks like.”

“Sure thing,” she replied, and summoned her blade for him. He didn’t seem shocked at all when she did, and stared at it with quite a lot of interest, almost as if he were studying it.

“That’s a Keyblade,” he stated.

She frowned slightly, wondering where he had learned of the Keyblade. He somehow managed to follow her train of thought, because he then said:

“You learn a lot of random things when you spend time with the Organization. Besides… my friend has one.”

“Friend?” Aqua asked, now very confused. She hadn’t known of anyone but her and Ven and one other person who wielded the Keyblade these days. Especially with Terra lost, and—

Wait a minute.

He couldn’t be talking about Terra, could he?

She found it a tad odd that Terra and this boy would be friends but, then again, Joseph seemed like he could befriend just about anyone. Excitement thrummed in her veins despite herself.

“What’s his name?” she whispered, though she was almost scared to receive an answer. What if it wasn’t Terra? But… what if it _was?_ If it really was him, then where had he been all this time? And—

“His name’s Sora,” Joseph replied.

Her hope popped like a bubble, and disappointment washed over her. Aqua scolded herself, though. There’d been barely a chance. (And besides, given the state Terra had been in when she’d seen him last…)

“Aqua,” Ven said, quietly. “Do you recognize that name?”

“Hmm?” she asked, her thoughts still on Terra. She didn’t quite understand what Ven was referring too.

“Sora,” Ven continued. “I feel like… like I’ve heard that name before.”

His hand hovered over his heart as he said this.

After a moment of thinking, Aqua nodded in agreement. She, too, felt like she had heard that name before, but she wasn’t entirely sure _when,_ or _where_ , for that matter. The memories seemed to slip through her fingers like water, but then, so did a lot of her memories from before her time in the Realm of Darkness. They all felt like they’d happened a lifetime ago—and in some ways, they had…

She didn’t have time to consider that fact any longer. Another Berserker showed up. (She could hear them, even if she couldn’t feel them—it was right within eyesight, anyway.) She made an annoyed sound with her throat as she pushed herself to her feet. This was getting _old._

She didn’t have the chance to even summon her blade, though.

Something struck the Berserker from behind, killing it instantly.

Recognizing the heart signature, Aqua’s mood brightened considerably. Sure enough, there was Mickey, grimacing as the Nobody went down and dismissing his Keyblade right away.

“Gosh,” he mused, with a nervous laugh. “What’s a Nobody like that doin’ in Twilight Town?”

“Sorry!” Joseph called. “I _think_ I’m attracting them.”

The King frowned, and Aqua couldn’t help but frown slightly, too. King Mickey was the kind of person you didn’t want to see frown, no matter what the reason may be.

“That, or someone’s sitting around and summoning them,” Joseph added, as he helped Ven to his feet (Aqua had a feeling that Ven had insisted). He had a bit of trouble doing so; he was still holding Aqua’s ice cream.  “Which, I wouldn’t put it past like… L to do. But… I don’t think _she_ can summon Berserkers.” He paused a second, making sure that Ven could stand alright, and then continued: “Unless, of course, 37 had a say in the matter- or _he’s_ here, summoning them. But- I can’t imagine why _either_ of them would be- unless- oh- ugh…” He made a rather disgusted face.

“Okay,” he said after a moment. “I’m going to stop there, because 1: you guys aren’t following me at all, 2: I don’t really need to be thinking about that, 3: I don’t really _want_ to be thinking about that and D, or- four- or-” He paused. “No, I didn’t have a fourth point. Never mind.”

Aqua thought about asking him to explain a bit more, but then decided that maybe it would be better if she didn’t.

“So what you’re sayin’ is…” Mickey said slowly, regarding Joseph with a curious expression. “Someone’s been sendin’ these Nobodies after ya?”

“Well,” Joseph frowned, taking a second to hand Aqua her ice cream. She stared at it, not sure what she was going to do with it. It was beginning to melt, but she didn’t want to eat in front of the King— (She knew he wouldn’t mind, but still.)

“I don’t know,” Joseph continued. “A bunch of them showed up right after I arrived here… and a bunch _keep_ showing up…” He sighed. “I don’t know,” he said again. “I can’t think of any other logical explanation than that someone’s sending them after me.”

“I wonder what for…” Mickey muttered.

“Oh, Saix has finally decided to actually _do_ something about me, that’s all,” Joseph laughed. “Though I don’t remember doing anything _nearly_ annoying enough for him to send Berserkers after me! I mean, I haven’t _actually_ …” he trailed off, listing a few things to himself, quieter than anyone else could hear.

Aqua laughed slightly at that.

“So,” Ven said (Joseph was still talking to himself), trying to stand a bit straighter. He seemed like he was still a bit out of it. “What brings you here, Your Majesty?”

Joseph stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to Mickey, eyes wide.

“’Your Majesty’?” he mouthed, almost in shock.

And then, much to Aqua’s surprise (and probably to everyone else’s) Joseph bowed, right then and there, before the King.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he said. “I did not realize- nor did I intend to be rude with you. I feel terrible; I did not even bother to offer my name. I am Joseph.”

“No worries, Joseph,” Mickey laughed. “We don’t have to let formalities get in the way.”

Joseph straightened, a wry smile on his face. “29 told me to always let formalities get in the way. He says lack of formality is the easiest way for someone like me to get killed.”

“Who’s 29?” Ven asked.

“29th Vexen Replica created,” Joseph replied, almost as if on cue. “He’s also my guardian.”

“And you’re a Replica, too?” Mickey asked.

Joseph nodded, and then made a face. “By the simplest terms of Replica, yes,” he said, slowly. “However, I am not an exact Replica. You see, s- Your Majesty, I am, basically, an experiment that Master Vexen conducted, so that he could see what happened when he combined Data of more than person.”

Aqua noted that he said all this like it was a rehearsed speech, and couldn’t help but wonder whether or not it actually was.

“Hold on a sec,” Joseph said, rather suddenly. “I’ll be right back!”

He ran for the ice cream shop.

“That’s one special kid,” Mickey remarked, watching him go.

Aqua nodded in agreement.

“So what _does_ bring you here, Your Majesty?” she asked after a moment.

“Welp, I heard there was some sort of disturbance in this World,” Mickey explained. “So I thought I’d come check it out. But it seems you guys have got it taken care of…”

“More or less,” Ven said, grinning slightly.

“What about you?” Mickey asked, turning to Aqua. “Any news on where Terra might be?”

She shook her head. “Nothing so far,” she sighed.

She had only been searching for him for a few months, of course, and she had a feeling that finding Terra was going to be more complicated than just searching the Worlds. But she didn’t even know where she was supposed to start when it came to finding out more about what had happened to him.

Well… actually… she had a rough idea…

But she didn’t really want to explore anything concerning _him_ , just yet.

“Gee, I wish I could help, Aqua,” Mickey said, sighing slightly as he did so. “There’s just so many Worlds that need takin’ care of, I don’t have time for—”

“It’s fine, Your Majesty,” Aqua interrupted, not really wanting to hear the explanation. She had heard this explanation at least once before, and she hadn’t wanted to hear it then, either. The fact that the King was explaining himself to her…

“You know, I meant to ask you guys about that,” Joseph said. He had returned, another ice cream in hand. He immediately handed it to Mickey. “I think that’s a lucky one,” he said as Mickey took it from him. “Got a WINNER stick in it, probably. Anyway,” he turned to Aqua. “Why do you guys have to go and deal with all the problems throughout the Worlds?”

Aqua gestured for him to wait; she was trying to save her melting ice cream. Now that Joseph had bought an ice cream for the King, she didn’t feel so guilty about eating her own.

“It’s our job as Keyblade Wielders,” she explained once she had the chance. “We have to help keep the Worlds in balance.”

Joseph frowned.

“Sora’s got a Keyblade…” he muttered. “Why isn’t he-” He stopped rather suddenly, like something had occurred to him. “Oh, never mind, I bet I know why…”

“Hmm?” Mickey asked.

Joseph shook his head.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he whispered. “But it’s not my place to say.”

Ven tensed.

Aqua frowned, wondering what was wrong. She started to ask—

Another Berserker appeared.

However, they didn’t need to worry about it. Mickey summoned his blade and took care of it in only a few combos. He didn’t even drop his ice cream.

“Ya said someone was sendin’ these guys after ya?” he asked Joseph as soon as the Berserker was gone. His voice was completely serious.

“I said _might_ …” Joseph replied with a shrug. “I’m not entirely sure. But, you know what, don’t worry about it. This is Rebellion business. You don’t need to worry about getting involved. We can handle it.”

“What rebellion?” Mickey demanded.

Joseph shifted slightly, looking as if he didn’t quite like having such a stern question directed at him. “Replica Rebellion against Saix,” he explained, and then frowned. “Or, rather, it’s nearly a war between Replicas. Everything’s been screwed up since Saix took charge of the Program.”

“War?” Aqua asked.

Joseph merely shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“Might as well be,” he laughed.

“If it’s a war…” Mickey said slowly. “Then we should be helpin’ out.”

Joseph shook his head, firmly, the laughter falling from his face.

“You don’t _want_ to help out,” he told them, firmly. Amazingly, though, his voice remained kind as he said it. “And forgive me if I’m being rude, but it is one bloody battlefield to be on. I wouldn’t want to see any of you get hurt. It’s not really your fight, and you have more important things to worry about. Let us Replicas handle it. Besides—” he laughed, then. “The moment Saix is stupid enough to do something that pisses Riku off, the war will be over. And the rate things are going, that moment seems like it’s coming pretty soon.”

Aqua glanced over at the King. He turned to her, his eyes narrowed slightly with determination. After a moment, though, his face relaxed, and he sighed. Aqua nodded, understanding.

There wasn’t much they could do to argue this point.

Unless…

“Could we help with anything else?” Aqua asked. “Surely there’s more you need than to just fight.”

Joseph shook his head. “You guys shouldn’t get involved at all. Like I said, it’s not your fight, and you have more important things to do. There’s nothing you can help with.” Here he trailed off, though, looking a little hopeful. “Unless… One of you guys happen to know anything concerning memories…? Wait, no. That’s too broad a question. And what’s happening with Namine is too—Don’t worry about it. We’ll handle it.”

Aqua studied him a moment, then shrugged. “If you’re sure.” There seemed nothing else to do.

“Positive,” Joseph assured her, with a laugh. “He- They’ll work it out. We’ll… find something, eventually.” He grinned at them. “I’m going to head home, now,” he said. “You guys don’t need any more Berserkers ruining your day, and I need to talk to 29 about something.”

He saluted, then pulled a star shard out of his pocket and activated it.

He was gone.

Aqua sighed.

“I wonder if he’ll be okay…” she muttered.

“Aw, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mickey told her. Then he paused. “Unless, of course, you were talkin’ about—”

“I was talking about Joseph,” Aqua laughed. She took the last bite of her ice cream, and then discarded the empty popsicle stick in a nearby trashcan. “He seems like a good kid… right, Ven?”

Ven didn’t answer.

“Ven?” Aqua asked, turning to him. He still seemed pretty tense, and there was a troubled look on his face. She frowned, noting the look. She had seen it often enough, especially recently…

“Ven, are you okay?” she asked, again.

“Sora,” he whispered. His eyes were fixed firmly on the ground.

Mickey stopped eating his ice cream for a second, a rather confused expression on his face. “Sora?” he muttered. “I know that name…”

Aqua gasped in shock. _Now_ she remembered why she knew that name. She had met a boy by that name years ago. Seven years, to be exact, though it felt like a lot less to her. He had been little, and full of light. She had also seen… a certain potential in him.

And she had chosen him to wield the Keyblade.

“A few months ago,” Mickey said. “The Darkness was brewin’… the Worlds really needed some help, and I knew I wasn’t gonna be enough to help them. But I heard from Yen Sid that a boy named Sora could wield a Keyblade—”

Aqua nodded. “I passed the power to him,” she explained. “I had a feeling that he would be strong enough. Glad to see my judgment proved correct.”

“I sent Donald and Goofy to go find him,” Mickey continued. “Except…” He frowned. “They reported back to me, saying that they never found him…”

“What?” Aqua asked, shocked. “What do you mean?”

Mickey shrugged, and took a bite of his ice cream. “I don’t know, but the Worlds did sort themselves out.” He laughed, then. “Maybe nothin’ happened at all. Joseph did say he had seen Sora, didn’t he?”

Aqua nodded.

“Right, so that means there’s four Keyblade Wielders—”

“Five,” Aqua corrected, automatically. “Terra’s out there somewhere.”

Mickey’s face curled up with discomfort, and so did Aqua’s insides. (She knew where Terra _probably_ was, as did Mickey, but neither of them wanted to think about that.)

“I- I don’t know if Sora’s in much condition to help out, you guys,” Ven whispered.

Aqua turned to him. “What do you mean?”

He looked up then, his eyes fierce. “Seven years ago, my heart was in bad shape,” he explained, very simple about it. “And while in that bad state, I found my way to Sora. He offered to let me stay with him, in his heart, until my heart healed.”

Aqua smiled. That sounded like the boy she had met seven years ago.

“But… something happened to him…” Ven continued, his voice shaking slightly. “And then- then there was… so much darkness. So much- raging inside of him- it was crushing everything, choking all the light—” He shuddered all over. Aqua reached out and squeezed his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

“Do ya have any idea what happened to him?” Mickey asked.

“I- I remember something about him wanting to see other worlds-” Ven muttered. “And- and he was jealous of- of someone-” He clutched his head, face contorting in pain. “I don’t remember—”

“Ven, it’s alright,” Aqua said, quietly. “We aren’t asking you to remember. Just tell us what you can, okay?”

Ven nodded. “There was- there was someone else there, too…” he whispered. He was shaking. “I can’t remember his name- but he- he was so-” He paused, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to concentrate. “I couldn’t bear being near him, he was so… so—”

His eyes flew open, and then he stumbled back, as if struck. His knees gave way beneath him, and he fell to the ground.

“Ven!” Aqua gasped, dropping to her knees beside him. He was holding his head in his hands and his entire body was shaking.

“That laugh…” he whispered. “Those eyes…”

He shuddered.

“Vanitas!”

Aqua’s eyes narrowed slightly. But she didn’t allow her anger to rise up concerning the subject. Instead, anticipating Ven’s reaction, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly, preventing him from summoning his blade. Then, not hesitating a second, she wrapped an arm around him, holding him protectively to her.

“It’s alright,” she told him, doing her best to keep her voice as even as possible. “He’s gone, remember? You beat him.”

For a second she could feel Ven’s heart pounding frantically. She swallowed.

“You beat him,” she repeated. “He’s gone now and he’s not coming back. He’s not going to hurt you. It’s alright.”

“Is he okay?” Mickey asked.

Aqua nodded, slowly. “He’s been having nightmares a lot recently,” she explained, throwing a glance over at Mickey. “Or he’ll have moments like this, the moment Va-” she paused, and then made a face. She didn’t want to say the name.

Mickey nodded, showing he understood who she was talking about.

“Any time he’s mentioned,” Aqua continued. “And sometimes when it’s just the darkness in general…” She trailed off.

“I wonder if Sora has anythin’ to do with this…” Mickey muttered. “I’m gettin’ the feelin’ that Sora’s strugglin’ with the darkness. And maybe that’s botherin’ Ven…”

“Do you think we should go help Sora?” Aqua asked.

“I think we should at least check on him,” Mickey said. “Make sure that he’s doin’ okay. Interferin’ with him and his darkness could be a bad idea.” He paused a second, glancing at his ice cream. It had melted almost completely. He finished what little was left in one bite.

The left over stick had the word WINNER on it.

He went ahead and pocketed the stick.

“I’ll check on him,” Mickey said. He nodded in determination, and then paused. “Well, I have an errand I need to run first, but then I can go check on him.”

“I can do it, Your Majesty,” Aqua said. “You’ve got more important things to be doing.”

“Aw, that’s alright Aqua,” Mickey laughed. “I don’t mind. And you’ve still gotta find Terra! Besides…” He cast a worried glance at Ven.

Aqua slowly nodded, knowing what he was getting at. Taking Ven around Sora and his darkness might not turn out well.

Sora and his darkness…

She sighed.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Mickey asked.

“Sora was… so full of light…” she whispered. “I just- I can’t imagine anything happening to him to make him fall into darkness. And, thinking about it, the fact that something _did_ happen is kind of…”

“Sad,” Mickey finished.

She nodded, even though it was guilt that tore at her stomach. If she hadn’t given him the Keyblade…? No, no, she couldn’t think like that.

“Definitely sad,” she agreed with Mickey, because she couldn’t let him know what else she was thinking.

 _It makes me think of Terra, too…_ she thought slowly.

_I never expected anything to happen to him, either… But he was dragged into darkness, just like Sora apparently was—_

“The darkness is cruel sometimes,” she muttered, a tad bitter about it. But of course, she knew that better than anyone. She’d watched it twist Terra, and then she’d spent seven years in the Realm it called home. She swallowed bile that rose in her throat.

Mickey didn’t say anything. From the way he sighed, it seemed like he wasn’t sure _what_ to say.

Finally, he looked at Aqua, a little sadly. “I should get goin’,” he said. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Goodbye, Your Majesty,” Aqua said, nodding.

“Bye…” Ven mumbled.

Mickey pulled a star shard out of his pocket and activated it.

He was gone.

“I’m alright now, Aqua,” Ven whispered. “This time it wasn’t too bad. It was just… a bit of a shock, that’s all. I forgot about- I-” he trailed off, shaking his head.

Despite the fact that she was incredibly curious, Aqua forced herself not to ask. It was easier to just not talk about some things. (It wasn’t like she’d told Ven the _exact_ depths she’d faced in the Realm of Darkness.) She let go of Ven and rose to her feet, helping him up as she did so. He quickly brushed himself off and grinned at her.

“Hey! I’ll race you to the next world!” he laughed.

She laughed, too, a little grateful he was so quick to push this to the side. And also, a little exasperated.

“You don’t even know where we’re going next!” she told him.

“Don’t care!” he replied, activating his armor and hopping on his Keyblade Glider. “I bet I can still beat you there!”

Aqua didn’t have a chance to reply before he flew off. She rolled her eyes and then activated her own armor and got on her own Keyblade Glider. She quickly followed after him.


	4. (DI/CE) In which magik's Namine, Kairi, and Xion end up in the wrong universe and have some tea with the HB gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> magik's Kairi, Namine, and Xion (from [ATPverse](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6772185/1/All-the-Pieces-Lie-Where-they-Fell)) end up in rar's universe, because these parallel universes have been [intertwined](http://rarmastersftpverse.blogspot.com/p/cant-escape-navigation.html) since the beginning and this was bound to happen eventually.
> 
> I think all of this was written by magik, so, keep that in mind! Also keep in mind this is largely from the POV of her characters, not the FtP kids you're familiar with. It might be hard to follow if you're only here for FtPverse, but I think you should give it a shot at least until Shad shows up because once he does it gets very, _very_ good, and the scene is a lot of fun. 
> 
> Oh, and magik's characters mention running into Joseph in the past -- that's a Can't Escape thing I didn't port over to ASAS, but if you want to read it, [check it out here!](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6902839/24/Some-things-you-just-can-t-Escape)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final note: this happens around chapter 83 of Dead Inside! wink wink nudge nudge there was a Reason that Riku got a feeling he needed to go.

Xion pulled at the bottoms of the shorts that Kairi had lent her. 

“I should have just insisted on the pants,” she muttered.

“It’s too hot for pants,” Kairi replied, not even turning around.

The three girls were walking around the market in Destiny Islands, in search of a wardrobe for both Namine and Xion. 

“Yeah, but that’s only if we stay here,” Xion argued.  “Didn’t you say something about having to go to Twilight Town?”

“That’s only if I can’t find the pants I want here,” Kairi said.

“You’re looking for pants!”

“For the purpose of fighting!”

“I’m buying pants and I’m wearing them,” Xion muttered.

“Look, I’m sorry that the shorts ended up being shorter than I had originally thought they were.  Turns out it had been a longer time since I last wore them that I had thought.”

Xion tugged at the bottoms of the shorts again.  She looked over at Namine. 

“Do you want to back me up?” she asked.

“Um… no, not really,” Namine said. 

“You’re no help.”

“Sorry.  I’m finding your arguing oddly amusing.”

“Aw, gee, thanks!” Xion said sarcastically.

“Here we go,” Kairi said, ushering them to a store. 

“Are we looking for anything in particular?” Xion asked.

“Clothes that you’d want to wear, that fit you,” Kairi said.  “And it’d probably be beneficial if they were clothes you could randomly fight Heartless in.”

“Life was easier in Organization cloaks,” Xion muttered, grabbing a pair of pants.

Namine laughed to herself quietly and picked out a couple of skirts, and a cardigan that she liked. 

“Ha! They do have the pants I want!” Kairi exclaimed.  “The best part about them is the pockets.  I could fit  _so_ much stuff into them.”

“Do they come in black?” Xion asked. 

Kairi tossed her a pair. 

“Khaki, please,” Namine said, holding out her hand.

Kairi laughed and handed her a pair. 

 

**xxx**

 

Fifteen minutes later, each girl had several new outfits. 

“I don’t even think we’ll need to go anywhere else,” Kairi said as they left the market.  “That was very productive.”

“Kairi, your pocket is lighting up,” Namine said. 

“I have a star shard,” Kairi said.  “Is it going off?”

“Only one way to find out,” Xion said, grabbing one of Kairi’s arms.  Namine hastily grabbed the other. 

The three girls soon found themselves bouncing through the stars.  They landed in Hollow Bastion, all of their ears ringing. 

Kairi shook her head to clear it.  “I brought it with me just in case we wanted to go somewhere else, I never would have thought it would just randomly go off.”

“I remember King Mickey saying something about them taking you where you need to be taken sometimes,” Namine said, looking about.  “We appear to be in Hollow Bastion.”

“Maybe Cid needs our help,” Kairi said, trying to get her bearings in order to head to the Restoration Committee Headquarters.  “Guys, is it just me, or does it feel different here?”

“Now that you mention it,” Namine said, frowning.  “It does.”

Xion just shrugged.  “I’ve never been here before.”

“Hello, there,” came a familiar voice.

“Aerith!” Kairi said. 

Aerith looked as if she had just been grocery shopping.  She had several baskets in her hands, but didn’t appear to be needing (or wanting) help.  She cocked her head to one side at Kairi’s greeting. 

“Do I know you?”

Kairi blanched.  “Um…”

“Namine?” Aerith said.

“Yes?” Namine asked.

“Weren’t you just here? Where’s Riku?”

“Erm, no, I wasn’t… Riku’s back on Destiny Islands…”

Aerith frowned.  “Something fishy is going on here.  You three should come with me.”

“How does she suddenly not know who we are?” Xion whispered.

“She knows who I am, but I don’t think she knows the me that you guys know.”

“Do you want to explain that for the rest of us?” Xion asked.

Aerith led them into her house, which wasn’t the Restoration Committee Headquarters that Kairi and Namine had seen before. 

“Leon, can you help me with these?” she said. 

“Oh, we would have…” Kairi began.

“Who are these people?” Cid asked, coming over.  “Namine?”

“Yes, but I’m not the Namine you think I am,” Namine said.

“What are you getting at?” Kairi asked.

“Joseph,” Namine responded.

“Who?” Xion asked.

“Remember, the boy from a parallel universe?” Namine said.

“Oh!” Kairi said. 

“You girls smell like a parallel…” Cid began.

“Parallel universes have a smell?” Yuffie asked, interrupting him. 

“Well, sure they do,” Cid said.

“I think you’re lying!” Yuffie exclaimed.

“Yeh don’ even know what yer talkin’ about!”

“I do so!”  
Leon, who had finished taking the baskets to the kitchen where Aerith was currently putting away groceries, came back out to the front room.

“Ignore them,” he said, covering his face with a hand.  “I’m Leon.”

He offered out his hand for the girls to shake. 

“Parallel universe, huh?” he asked.

“I suppose so,” Kairi said.

“I would say yes,” Namine said.  “Considering we know who you all are, and you all appear to know who I am, but we’re not the we we think you know.”

“Ouch!” Yuffie groaned.  “Way to make my head hurt.”

Leon snorted.  “Well, that’s Yuffie and Cid, and Aerith.  And you’re Namine…”

“I’m Kairi,” Kairi said.

“Xion.”

“Pleased to meet you!” Aerith called from the kitchen. 

“The real question is,” Cid said.  “Is why they’re here...”

“The star shard I had in my pocket just activated,” Kairi said.  “We haven’t quite figured out why; much less why we’re in a different universe.”

“They missed the giant Heartless battle,” Yuffie muttered.

“Could travelling across universes mess with that?” Aerith asked, coming out into the room with the rest of them.

“Nah,” Cid said.  “Star shards are more accurate than tha’.”

“Which means that they’re here for something else,” Leon said.

“Not more Heartless!” Yuffie groaned.

“It may not necessarily be bad,” Leon said. 

“Stuff like this usually is,” Yuffie mumbled.  

“So, you’re Kairi, right?” Aerith said, cutting Yuffie off before she could go any further. 

Kairi nodded.

“Sora mentioned you,” she said.  “Well, the Sora from our universe did.”

“Knowing Sora, I’m not surprised,” Kairi said, laughing. 

“Some things don’t change across universes,” Namine muttered, smiling.

“Whoa!” Xion exclaimed, stepping away from the table that she had been leaning against.  “What the…?”

A Shadow Heartless slowly made its way out from under the table.  She summoned her Keyblade. 

“Oh, don’t kill it,” Aerith said.  “Let me go get a broom.  There’s always one that manages to get in…”

“Aerith likes teh jus’ shoo the small ones ou’side,” Cid said as Aerith went into the kitchen to retrieve the broom.

“Your Keyblade’s all shiny,” Yuffie said, looking at Xion’s Keyblade.

“Uh, sure, I guess,” Xion said, shrugging.  Her Keyblade looked like it always looked.

“Well, Riku’s blade was all crooked and mean-looking, and Sora’s blade looked like it was in a constant state of repair,” Yuffie said.

“Oh, Riku’s probably got Soul Eater then,” Namine said.  “He just hasn’t gotten his Keyblade yet.”

“Hey may not get it,” Leon said.  “He’s a replica.”  
He didn’t say this in a condescending manner, he only stated it as fact.  However, the implications were clear: Riku was programmed to have Soul Eater and that was about it.

Namine frowned.   _I wonder who he’s a replica of…_

That was an obvious question. 

_The more appropriate question is… which Riku is this Riku a replica of?_

Namine’s thoughts were interrupted by Kairi asking:

“What do you mean that Sora’s blade was in a state of repair?”

Her question never got answered though.  Aerith had batted the Shadow to the door with the broom and had found a more pleasant surprise waiting outside. 

“Tifa!” she exclaimed. 

“Refusing to kill the little ones, again, Aerith?” Tifa asked with a laugh.

Aerith laughed and shrugged.  “You just missed Cloud, I feel bad… I tried to make him stay, but you know how he gets when he gets an idea in his head…”

“No, I didn’t miss him,” Tifa interrupted.  “I found him at Olympus Coliseum.  Good thing too, he’d gotten himself skewered again.”

“By what?” Leon asked, frowning.

“I  _think_ it was a Keyblade of Darkness…”

“Keyblade of Darkness, who wields one of t…” Kairi began. “Oh, that’s a dumb question.”

“Xehanort had one,” Xion said.

“Well, hello, who are you?” Tifa asked, coming inside alongside Aerith.

“I’m Kairi, this is Namine, and this is Xion,” Kairi offered. 

“We’re from a parallel universe,” Xion added.  “Just to get all that on the table.”

“And just when I thought my day couldn’t get any weirder,” Tifa muttered, blowing her bangs out of her face.

“Is Cloud okay?” Aerith asked.

“Sure, I fixed him up alright,” Tifa said, shrugging.  “He made a fuss about it, though, there was a  _ton_ of darkness in the wound.”

“You said Keyblade,” Leon said.  “Was Sora there?”

Tifa nodded. 

“Was anyone else there?”

“Yeah, Sora was definitely fighting _someone._ Looked near-identical to Sora? He left in a hurry, though.”

“His Shadow,” Leon muttered.

“Pardon?” Tifa asked.

“Sora has a shadow?” Kairi asked. 

“And some things are different across universes…” Namine mused. 

“Here we go again,” Aerith muttered.  “Let me go make up some tea.  Sit down while Leon explains…”

Everyone took a seat around the large table.  Yuffie looked bored, Cid looked like he couldn’t care, Tifa looked genuinely interested.  Kairi, Namine and Xion all looked intrigued.  Leon looked like he was about to give a lecture he’d already given.

“Maybe you three will be able to give us some insight,” Leon said.  “Typically, things tend to occur similarly across universes.”

“We can try,” Namine said. 

“Sora dabbled too close to the darkness,” Leon began.  “To put it simply.”

Kairi gasped, but motioned for Leon to continue.

“Since then, he’s developed a dark shadow that follows him around.  A lot of people will have this happen when they get too close to the darkness.”

Tifa nodded in understanding.  Cloud had a dark shadow once…

Aerith brought tea to the table and passed everyone a cup, then she sat down herself.  She was frowning, but only slightly.  Sora’s Shadow had that effect on people.

Leon continued, “The shadows can do anything from play puppet master, to possession, to merely trying to drag the person back down into darkness.  Regardless, the two feed off each other until one is exactly like the other.  Unless, one of them can be defeated first, and it isn’t always the shadow that gets defeated.”

Namine frowned and took a drink of her tea.

“I’m afraid we’re not going to be much help here.  In our universe, it was Riku that got too close to the darkness.  And he took care of Ansem before things got bad.  And I  _know_ he’ll argue me on that one, but still.  Ansem got taken care of.”

“I still don’t get it,” Yuffie muttered.  “Why can’t everyone see this shadow-thingy?”

“Sora’s Shadow in particular can only be seen by Sora, given the plane of existence he’s on,” Leon explained, his voice strained.

Kairi and Namine snorted.

“Yes?” Leon asked.

“Nothing,” Namine said, shaking her head.  “Sorry, continue.”

Kairi picked up her cup and slowly sipped at her tea to cover her laughter.  Both of them were thinking back to Namine’s experiences with odd planes of existences. 

Leon frowned at them, but continued.  “However, some people can hear Sora’s Shadow because they’ve had experiences with darkness in the past and they know what to listen for.”

“They don’t even have to have experiences with darkness,” Aerith said, her voice somber. “They just need to have a good enough picture in their heads of what darkness is.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. 

“Sorry,” Aerith said, waving her hand in a dismissing gesture.  “Continue.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Leon said, picking up his tea for the first time and downing half of it in one gulp.  “It’s different for everyone.  Now, where was I?”

“I think we get the picture,” Tifa said, looking at Aerith.

Aerith had the look on her face that she always got when Zack was close to being mentioned.  She gripped her cup of tea like it was her lifeblood. 

“I’m sorry,” Kairi said.  “Really, I am, but there’s something I just can’t wrap my head around.   _Why_ would Sora get so close to the darkness to have someone comparable to  _Ansem_ following him around trying to drag him back into the darkness?”

Namine put a hand on her shoulder.  “Things are just different in this universe.  Think of it this way, the people here probably have a hard time comprehending Riku falling in.”

“What’s the Sora like in your universe?” Yuffie asked, trying to change the subject to something that she understood. And also something that made Aerith less edgy.

“Well, he’s bright, and happy,” Kairi said, her face growing red at the question.  “He’s not against the darkness, but he certainly wouldn’t get close to it as a personal choice.  He knows there’s a balance to keep.”

“The Sora we know isn’t evil,” Aerith said, gently.  “He’s just trying to find his light.”

Namine and Xion instinctively looked at Kairi. 

“You said Sora had mentioned me, or the Kairi he knows,” Kairi said.  “What all did he say?”

“Well, he mentioned that she’s a friend of his and that he hasn’t seen her in a while,” Aerith said. 

“He always got a little touchy when the subject came up,” Cid said. 

There was silence for a brief moment, and then quietly Kairi said:

“He thinks she hates him.”

Everyone stared.

“What would give you tha’ idea?” Cid asked. 

“Joseph,” Kairi replied.  “He’s this boy we ran into a while ago.  He was from a parallel universe.  And I’m beginning to think that we’re in the universe that he was from—mostly because I refuse to believe that there are many universes where Sora would do something to make himself think that Kairi would hate him, and dabbling in darkness is probably a good enough reason.”

“Joseph,” Cid muttered, scratching his chin.  “I remember Riku and Namine mentionin’ somethin’ about him…”

“This should clear things up,” Namine said.   “Well, maybe.  The Riku that you know, is he in charge of a Rebellion going on in Castle Oblivion?”

“Yes,” Leon answered.

Kairi and Namine exchanged excited glances. 

“I’m so lost,” Yuffie muttered, resting her chin in her hands. 

“Me too,” Xion said quietly, sipping her tea.  “Mostly because I wasn’t there for the conversation with Joseph.”

“Parallel universes confuse me,” Yuffie said.

Xion shrugged.  “I’ve seen a lot of weird things.  I’ve  _been through_ weird things.”

“Yeah?”

“Try getting destroyed and rebuilt,” Xion said, laughing.

“Wha—?”

“I’m a replica,” Xion said.  “Weird stuff tends to happen around you.”

Yuffie wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“Tha’ doesn’ necessarily prove that we’re talking about the same universe though,” Cid said, looking between Namine and Kairi.  “There can be a lot of similarities between close parallels.”

“Do Riku and Namine look like they should be together but actually aren’t?” Namine asked. 

Leon snorted.  Cid nodded.  Aerith laughed. 

“Right, that’s enough to convince me,” Namine said.  “But I’m out of other stuff to try and prove things one way or another.”

“Would be interestin’,” Cid said.  “Perhaps our universe and your universe are tied together somehow.  Provided the Joseph you met was from this universe.”

“What would tie two universes together?” Xion asked.

“Someone meddlin’,” Cid replied.  “Some person doing some tiny little thing between two universes that caused the two of them to be woven together.”

“It’s like eating a Paopu fruit,” Kairi said.  “When two people share one their destinies become intertwined.”

“Well, it’s not as poetic as tha’,” Cid said.  “But tha’s the general idear.”

“Okay, I know this is off-topic,” Yuffie said, looking at Tifa.  “But where did Cloud go after you helped him become unskewered again?”

“He said he was going after Sora again,” Tifa said.  “He’s trying to look out for him because he knows the signs.  Either that, or he just needs to be on his own again for a while.”

She sighed and rested her cheek on a fist. 

“Not that the last fifteen minutes was  _any_ indication saying that things happen similarly across universes,” Kairi said. “But the Cloud that I know found his light again.”

Tifa smiled.  “Thanks, that’s comforting.”  
“So did Riku,” Namine said.  “There’s hope for Sora, too.”

“I would  _hope_ Riku found his light,” Xion said, jabbing Namine in the ribs.

Namine flushed bright red. 

Cid raised his eyebrows and Aerith smiled knowingly.

“I wish I could feign ignorance to what you’re talking about, but I can’t,” Namine muttered.

Everyone burst out laughing.

 

**xxx**

 

Sora’s Shadow appeared in Hollow Bastion.  The darkness of this world was comforting.  It wasn’t like Olympus Coliseum was bright, because it wasn’t.  It was balanced though.  Hollow Bastion was so skewed that it made it nice. 

He wandered about the streets, basking in the warped world that had been plunged into darkness one too many times. He tried not to think about how he had to run away from that last battle, about how that girl had been  _so damn bright._

Something in Aerith’s house caught his attention.  Or rather, the headache that he was immediately presented with caught his attention. 

It wasn’t the headache that he got when he got close to just anything bright…

It was the headache he got when he was around Kairi.

But what would Kairi be doing here?

He waltzed right into Aerith’s front room.  First, he had to grimace at the sight of Tifa.  Why did she have to go and be here?

But then his eyes fell on Kairi.  He didn’t immediately notice that her hair was different and that she looked older.  He _did_ notice that Namine was sitting right next to her.  He frowned, trying to figure that one out.  He knew that they knew each other, but why were they here? And who was that girl with the short black hair that his mind was giving him  _no_ information on?

He made his way over so he was standing behind Kairi and the girl who he had no name for. 

“What are you doing here? I didn’t know you got off the Islands much,” he whispered in her ear, trying to avoid being noticed by Leon or Aerith, both of whom could hear him on occasion. 

However, Kairi did not respond.

“Seriously, you’re ignoring me again?” he asked.  “No one here’s gonna think you’re crazy!”

“Is someone talking?” Namine asked, looking about the room. 

“Okay since when…” he began. 

“No, I didn’t hear anyone,” Kairi said. 

She wasn’t his Kairi.  Something in her voice…

Then Namine looked right at him. 

Not,  _about_ him like everyone besides Sora and Cloud did, but  _right at_ him. 

Well,  _that_ was disorienting.  But, this could prove to be interesting.

Namine frowned at him. 

“You just have a knack for showing up when people are talking about you, don’t you?” she asked. 

“You guys were talking about me? How sweet! Pity I missed it, I was too busy kicking Sora’s ass!”

Namine raised an eyebrow.  “And shoving a Keyblade through Cloud.”

“Wait a second,” Tifa said. 

_I wonder if she can hear me… or if she only knows that because Namine had to go and mention it… I’m not sure how much strength I’ve got since I’m not feeding off of anyone right now.  Not any significant darkness… eff._

He could tell that Tifa couldn’t  _see_ him though, considering she was only looking in his general direction. 

“Hey, let’s keep that on the down-lo, okay? He was interfering with me dragging Sora into the darkness.”

He leaned against the wall casually.  What was creepy, was that Namine followed his gaze, staring directly into his eyes the entire time.  Not even Sora had the balls to do that. 

“It’s a good thing Kairi can’t hear you,” she said.

“What’d he say?” Kairi asked, looking at Namine.

Namine didn’t respond to Kairi out loud.  However, Kairi must have gotten the gist somehow, for she frowned in his general direction.  He decided he didn’t like it when Kairi,  _any_ Kairi, frowned. 

_Shit, I should probably keep my mouth shut… if they tell any of this to Kairi… I’m screwed._

“Not all of us have telepathy,” Xion said.  “Kindly tell the rest of us what is going on?”

“He’s bragging about trying to drag Sora into the darkness,” Leon explained.  “However, I don’t think it worked.”  
“How do you know?” Shadow argued. 

“If it had worked, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Valid, I suppose.”

“Why are you here?” Aerith asked, looking at him.  He didn’t like the look on her face. 

“Why do you care?”

“You’re in my house, I think I have the right to care.”

He rolled his eyes.  “It’s none of your business.”

“You had to run away,” Namine said slowly.  “You didn’t overpower Sora, because…”

“Shut up!” he roared, looking directly at her.  She flinched, it made him happy.  “How could you even…”

He began picking her mind.  The first thing he got was possibly the most juiciest thing he could have hoped for. 

“It’s  _you_!” he exclaimed.  “You’re  _that_ Namine! You’re the reason why he’s so messed up.”

“What?” Namine asked, leaning away from him.  “What do you mean?”

“You…” he began laughing at the brilliance of this all.  “You…” he couldn’t even get the word out between guffaws. “You shattered his memories!”

All the blood drained out of Namine’s face. 

“Okay, I heard that one,” Kairi said.  She looked at Namine.  “Who’s memories…”

“Oh-ho!” the Shadow laughed.  “And you haven’t told them! That’s even better.”

All of this off of one memory! He could have fun with this. 

“Aw, man, I haven’t had this much fun since I was teasing Aerith about Zack!”

There was a shattering of glass as a cup hit the wall behind the Shadow’s head.  The remnants of tea dripped to the floor. 

All eyes looked to Aerith.  She had thrown her cup of tea right at him.  Had he been on the same plane of existence as the rest of them, it would have knocked him right in the head. 

Namine stood up. 

“You can tell everyone about what I’ve done, I don’t care,” she seethed.  “But you do  _not_ get to be mean to Aerith!”

“I dunno what he said, but it had to have been bad,” Cid muttered, chewing on a piece of straw.  “It had somethin’ to do with  _him_ though.”

“What are you going to do about it?” the Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow cockily at Namine. 

“I’ll fight you if I have to,” Namine said.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” he asked, summoning his chains and twirling them around.  Namine frowned at them.

“They remind you of all those memories you unchained?” he taunted. 

“Do your worst,” Namine said.  “I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should know that you’re going to regret that,” he said, summoning a bunch of Neoshadows. 

“Hey look, enemies I can  _see_!” Xion exclaimed. 

With a wave of Namine’s hand, they all disappeared. 

“Not in the house,” Namine said. 

“And how are  _you_ going to stop me?”

He summoned up some more Neoshadows. 

Namine made them disappear as well. 

Leon, Aerith and Kairi were watching the exchange between Namine and the Shadow with piqued interest.  Yuffie was in shock that Namine had just taken out not one, but  _two_ rounds of Neoshadows without even breaking a sweat.  Tifa, Xion and Cid were waiting to see what would be summoned next. 

“Why couldn’t she be here for the Heartless battles,” Yuffie muttered.  Tifa frowned at her, not that Yuffie cared.

“I could do this all day,” the Shadow said lazily. 

Namine knew she couldn’t, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. 

“Why doesn’t he, like, actually attack you?” Xion asked.  “As opposed to just summoning up Heartless that you can shatter.”

“Oh, so  _that’s_ what she’d doing to them,” he laughed.  He’d been wondering how she’d been making them disappear, however, he hadn’t really spared any effort in actually, you know,  _caring._

Then, he laughed.  “You’re shattering them like you shattered—”

He paused to look at the expression on her face.  He was expecting one of horror or shock, or pleading for him not to finish that statement for the two, maybe three, other people in the room that could hear him.  However, the look on her face was just  _daring_ him to say it.  She turned to look at Xion.

“It’s because he’s on a weird plane of existence,” Namine said.  “He can’t physically touch me, nor I him.”

“Then how are you planning on fighting…” Xion began, but she was cut off by the Shadow’s voice that she heard for the first time. 

“Shattered Riku.”

He had been pulling at the small tendrils of darkness coming from her since they’d started this battle.  She was darker than he would have originally thought.   _Definitely_ darker than the other Namine.  Plus, there were the dark thoughts that he’d been getting off of Aerith ever since he’d mentioned Zack’s name.  He figured he could expend the little extra energy to let _everyone_ in the room hear about what Namine had done to poor, poor, Riku.  Or, from her perspective, the Riku Replica.  Those were about the only thoughts he could pick up on, because they were the darkest—sure, there were some others about unchaining things, stuff about people he didn’t care about.  But the stuff about Riku was the best.

Because, as fate would have it, the Riku that she had shattered, happened to be the Riku that Sora had struck in a fit of anger, beginning the downward spiral into darkness.

Which, essentially, had led to his entire existence.  Provided you followed the pronouns. 

And! To make it all better, she thought he was dead.  And he wasn’t about to tell her otherwise. 

Meanwhile, all eyes had turned to Namine.  Namine had bit down hard on her lip.  She squinted her eyes shut for just a moment, then she relaxed.  She looked down at her shoes.

“In Castle Oblivion,” she began.  “Our Castle Oblivion, Vexen made a replica of Riku—our Riku.  I was the one who gave him memories, because that’s what I did.  I controlled all the memories in that blasted castle.  However, mere  _days_ later, Larxene threw him on my table and told me that I had to Rewrite his memories, to make him think that he was the Real Riku.  I didn’t want to, I wanted to tell her how unstable it would make him… but it wouldn’t have mattered even if I had, she wouldn’t have believed me.  So I rewrote him, out of fear.  This caused him to begin to deteriorate because the memories in his head were more like fragmented shards than a complete chain.  He was going to kill Sora, so I had to shatter his already unstable heart.  If I had had more time, I would have come up with a better option, but I only had a split-second...”

She paused, but didn’t look up from her shoes.

“Why didn’t you mention anything?” Kairi asked.

“I… I didn’t want to.”

“But, the Riku Replica,” Xion said.  “I’ve been through the Database in Castle Oblivion.  It says he was terminated by Riku.”

“He was…”

The Shadow burst out laughing.  He clapped his hands. 

“Well, everyone, I think we’ve come leaps and bounds from where we were ten minutes ago.  How does it feel to have everything out in the open, Namine?”

“A hell of a lot better,” she said, looking up directly at him.  He almost flinched.  It was unnerving how she could  _do_ that. 

“What I  _don’t_ get,” she continued, taking a step closer to him.  “Is how you know him.”

“I can read all your dark little thoughts, missy,” he taunted. 

“No, you know him personally.  Or, at least know  _of_ him.”

“I never said that.”

“Your exact words were: You’re  _that_ Namine.  You’re the reason why he’s so messed up.  Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that implies to me that you know of the Riku Replica.”

Namine closed her eyes.  Kairi and Xion exchanged wary glances. 

The Shadow suddenly felt something poking around in his brain.  He instinctively threw up a wall, like he did with every thought about Kairi when Sora was around.  Namine grimaced. 

“You’re poking around in my head!” he exclaimed.

“And that was a thought about Kairi that I didn’t need to see,” Namine muttered. 

“What…?” Kairi began.

“You don’t want to know,” Namine said. 

Kairi grimaced. 

“Get out of my head you bi—”

“Enough!” Aerith screamed. 

The Shadow, who had actually thrown up his hands in between himself and Namine as if it would stop her from getting into his head, lowered them cautiously.  Namine’s eyes flew open.  Leon, who had been leaning back on the back to legs of his chair this whole time, jerked forward as he sat at-attention.  Yuffie and Cid sat up straight as well.  Xion flinched.  Kairi looked up at Aerith expectantly.  The look on Tifa’s face was hard to read as she gazed up at Aerith from where she sat. 

No one had ever seen Aerith this angry.  Upset, yes.  Angry, never. 

“You barge into my house, you insult my guests, you insult me, you summon up Heartless, and now you’re just antagonizing everyone like a…”

“Don’t finish that comment, sweetie,” the Shadow warned. 

“Out!” Aerith screamed.  “Get. Out. Of. My.  _House_!”

The Shadow shrugged, though no one (except possibly Namine) could see.  Then, in a puff of darkness, he was gone.

Aerith sunk down into her chair and buried her face in her hands.  Namine hesitantly returned to her own seat.  She was shaking, but she hardly even noticed it. 

 _Imagine what would have happened if Riku or Sora were here…_ Kairi thought.

 _It would have been a mess.  I’m almost glad they weren’t…_ Namine replied.

“Thank you,” Aerith said quietly.  “For standing up for me.”

“You’re welcome,” Namine said.  “You would have done the same for me.”

Aerith nodded. 

“How much of his memories could you see?” Kairi asked. 

“Enough to get an accurate picture of what he looked like, where he was standing, and a general grasp of what he was thinking at any given time.  I could see his eyes…”

She shuddered. 

“He sounded like Sora…” Yuffie said quietly.  “Just a whole lot meaner.”

Leon covered his face with a hand.

“Well o’course he does!” Cid stated.  “He’s his shadow!”

“But Sephiroth sounded nothing like Cloud,” Tifa said quietly.

“I stan’ corrected,” Cid muttered.  “Well anyway, that was quite the dinner and a show—haf’ a show, anyways.”

“We didn’t even have dinner!” Yuffie argued.

“So? It’s par’ of the sayin’!”

“But that doesn’t even make sense!”

“I’ll go make dinner.  Then it’ll make sense.  You gals stayin’?”

“If you don’t mind,” Kairi said. 

“’Course not.  I’ll go whip something up.”

“Cid, you don’t have to,” Aerith began.

“Nonsense,” Cid interrupted.  “You jus’ relax.  I’ll take care of the food.”

As he meandered into the kitchen, those closest could hear him add: “An’ save some dishes…”

There was a silence at the table, no one wanting to speak first, not even Yuffie.  Tifa quietly got up and went over to put an arm around Aerith.  Aerith closed her eyes and sighed. 

Then Leon spoke up:

“So, you’re a Memory…” he paused. 

“You can say it.  You won’t be the first.”  Namine’s voice was quiet.

“I wasn’t quite sure what to tack on to the end of that.  Sorceress perhaps?”

“Where I come from, it was Memory Witch.”

“That sounds as bad as the d-word,” Yuffie muttered.

“D-word?” Xion asked.

“Defective,” Yuffie whispered.  “Riku almost chopped off my head when I said it.”

Xion winced. 

“He wouldn’ have done so if you had been watchin’ what you were talkin’ abou’!” Cid called from the kitchen. 

Yuffie chose not to respond.

“But yes,” Namine continued.  “I can chain, unchain, re-chain, and shatter anybody’s memories.  I’ve only ever done it to one person.  And, you all know who that is.”

“I’m going to voice this, since all of you are avoiding the issue,” Tifa said, looking around at everyone.  “Is the Riku that you supposedly shattered the Riku that currently exists in this universe?”

“That’s what I was picking the Shadow’s brain so hard to find out,” Namine said.  “I think…I think he is the same.”

“But the Database…” Xion began.

“That information was either updated by Vexen or a Vexen Replica,” Namine interrupted.  “Yes, the Riku Replica fought Riku.  Yes, Riku won.  But, what if, what if something stopped the Riku Replica from completely disappearing?”

“So, what,” Kairi said.  “He lost a fight to Riku and then formed a corridor and ended up here because the universes are connected?”

Namine shook her head.  “He wouldn’t have been able to.”

“Why not?” Kairi asked.

Namine raised an eyebrow.  “This is Riku we’re talking about.  At the time, the Riku Replica would not have been enough of a match for him.”

“So some other force would have had to,” Tifa said. 

“What if the Riku Replica is the reason why the universes are connected?” Kairi asked.  “He’s injured and hurt and then someone comes along and takes him someplace safe, which happens to be this universe.”

“We might have found the victim of what is tying the two universes together,” Leon said.  “But that doesn’t answer who brought him over here in the first place.”

“Does it matter?” Namine asked, laughing in astonishment.  “He’s alive! The last I saw him, he said he’d deal with the fact that his memories were a wreck.  Then, I thought, he went and committed suicide by going after Riku… but, he’s alive. He is well, is he not?”

“Well sure, I would say,” Leon said. 

“He seems fine teh me!” Cid called.  “So’s Namine.”

Namine laughed.  “He found another Namine to protect.”

“That’s good, right?” Kairi asked. 

Namine shrugged.  “It would seem so.  I’d have to see him myself to be sure.  I wonder if he’s angry with me…”

“Don’t think like that,” Kairi cautioned.  “We just got Riku to stop being broody and guilty.  Don’t you start.”

Namine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “Just food for thought.”

“You could probably go see him,” Yuffie said.  “If you wanted to… he’s in Castle Oblivion.”

“But short of taking a Gummi Ship, there’s no telling which Castle Oblivion they’d end up in,” Leon said.  “Using star shards and dark corridors could very easily lead them back to their own universe.”

“I think we should probably be getting back home after dinner,” Kairi said.  “There’s no doubt that Sora, Riku and Roxas are wondering how long it takes us to shop.”

“We could always come back, couldn’t we?” Xion asked.  “Especially if the universes are connected.”

Leon shrugged.  “Chances are high.”

“Dinner’s up!” Cid called. 

“I’ll help him bring it to the table,” Tifa said. 

“Thank yeh!”Cid called. 

“Oh, before I forget,” Tifa said.  “Do you have another pair of gloves for me, Aerith? Cloud bloodied my last pair beyond using them anymore.”

“Oh,” Xion said, digging into her bag.  “Here!”

She handed Tifa a pair of gloves.      

“They’re Organization quality, nothing’ll mess those up.”

“Are you sure?” Tifa asked, taking the gloves.

Xion nodded and held up her own hands.  “As you can see, I already have a pair.  Plus I’ve got three more at home and know where to get dozens more.”

“Thank you!” Tifa said, tucking the gloves into her belt.  Then she went to go help Cid with dinner.

 

**xxx**

“So, now for the big question,” Kairi said as they made their way up to their houses.  “Do we tell the others?”

“I’m probably going to tell Riku,” Namine said.  “Mostly because he’d be interested to know the whereabouts of his replica.  And we promised we’d tell each other everything.”

“I’m afraid Sora will freak out.  I mean, he did get a little upset just when Joseph was speaking about things ambiguously.”

“You should still tell him,” Xion said.  “We should let them know about why our universe is connected to their universe and why.  Plus, if we tell them now, it’ll save explanation later.  Since we’re bound to run into them again.”

Kairi nodded, agreeing with Xion’s logic.  “That settles that then.  We’ll tell them.”

“Tell us what?” Riku asked, suddenly behind them.

“Don’t  _do_ that!” Kairi seethed.

“Hi!” Namine said.

“Hello,” he responded, smiling. 

“Tell us what?” Roxas asked, joining them.  “Does it have anything to do with you being gone for like, a whole day.”

“We weren’t gone that long, were we?” Namine asked. 

“I feel like girls could shop forever,” Sora said. 

“Time passes differently in different worlds, does it not?” Kairi asked.  “Could not the same apply for other universe?”

“Say what?”

 


	5. (Prequel) Childhood Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A misc collection of scenes of Sora and Kairi as kids!

“Hey daddy,” Sora said, tugging on his father’s shirt. His father didn’t respond right away. Sora frowned at that, and tugged his dad’s shirt harder. “Daddyyyyy-” he cried.

Finally, Sora’s father turned to him. “Sorry, son,” he laughed, kneeling down so he could look Sora in the eye. “What did you want?”

Sora grinned at his father. “I’m gonna go play with that girl!” he declared, pointing.

Sora’s father followed his son’s gaze and raised his eyebrows. The girl Sora was talking about was about his age, and had striking red hair. She was talking to her father, and held a few flowers in her hand. She wore a white dress with pink flowers on it, very simple.

Sora’s father returned his attention to Sora. “Alright, be careful,” he laughed, ruffling his son’s hair. Sora protested, but soon ran off.

He stopped next to the girl, who had left her father and was now picking flowers. She didn’t seem to notice him.

“Hi,” he said after a moment, kneeling down next to her.

She glanced over at him. “Hi!” she replied. “I’m Kairi! Who are you?”

“My name’s Sora!”

Kairi grinned at him, and then turned back to the flowers. She ran her hands through the flowers, as if not sure which one to pick next.

“What are you doing?” Sora asked after a moment.

“Trying to find the perfect flower,” Kairi answered simply. Her hand finally stopped on a blue one, and her eyes lit up. She plucked it out of the ground and then arranged it in the mess of other flowers she was holding.

Sora watched her curiously, as if not sure what to make of her. He turned away for a second, studying the flowers, trying to make sense of them. After a moment, he looked back at her, and was surprised to find her grinning at him.

“Here!” she said, holding the flowers out to him. “They’re for you!”

Sora frowned and carefully took the flowers, as if he might break them.

“Aren’t they pretty?” Kairi asked.

Sora wrinkled his nose. “I think they smell funny,” he told her, instead.

 

**xxx**

 

“This is the worst party ever,” Sora muttered.

It was his birthday. All his friends had come: Tidus, Wakka, Kairi, and (after a bit of convincing from Kairi) Selphie. Though, currently, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were playing with _his_ ball in _his_ backyard. Only Kairi had stayed inside with him.

“I still can’t believe that Wakka only got me a ball so he could play with it,” Sora continued, throwing his hands up in the air in his frustration. “I mean, what’s the deal with that! It’s stupid!!”

“You don’t want to play with them?” Kairi asked.

Sora shook his head. “They have this weird ball game that they play. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“You could always just ask for your ball back,” Kairi pointed out.

Sora shook his head again. “Nah, I don’t wanna sound mean.”

“But it’s _your_ ball.”

Sora just shrugged.

Kairi laughed. “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” she said, grabbing Sora’s hand. “We could ask your mom if she can cut the cake early! And since they’re too busy playing ball, we’ll get extra!”

Sora laughed at that, and allowed Kairi to drag him off.

 

**xxx**

 

“Soorraaa!! What are you doing?” Kairi whined, as Sora prodded her with his wooden sword again.

“I’m a pirate!” Sora declared, pointing at the pirate hat on his head. He then pointed to Kairi. “And you’re my captive!” he laughed, and prodded her with the sword again.

She frowned and turned to him. “You don’t _sound_ like a pirate,” she told him plainly.

Sora made a face, and then said: “Arg! Get in me ship!” He poked her again with the sword.

Kairi laughed and then shoved the sword back towards Sora. “No! Stupid pirate!” she shouted. “Leave me alone!”

Sora grinned and then laughed a very pirate-y laugh. “Yer coming with me whether you like it or not, missy!” he said, grabbing her by the wrist.

He dragged her over to the shore, despite her attempts to get away from him. They were very feeble attempts, obviously, as they were only playing.

“Are we ready to set sail, Captain?” Sora’s father called from the boat, as Sora dragged Kairi over.

“Aye, matey!” Sora declared as he hopped into the boat. He paused and then helped Kairi get in the boat before saying: “Let’s leave port and head to that island over there!” He pointed off to the distance, where the smaller island was.

Sora’s father saluted. “Aye-aye. Cap’n!” he laughed, and then started rowing the boat.

“Shouldn’t you be giving more orders?” Kairi asked after a moment, glancing at Sora. “Captains usually give a lot of orders, don’t they?”

Sora made a face. “Well… yeah… but they use lots of big words,” he explained, and then grinned like he was all proud of himself. “Me and my dad watched a pirate movie last night, so I know what I’m doing!” He turned out to see, making a telescope with his hands and pretending to search the horizon.

“Do you see anything, Captain?” Sora’s father asked.

“Not a single enemy ship in sight!” Sora replied. “But even if there were, it wouldn’t matter. _I’ve_ got a captive!”

Kairi pouted.

Sora’s father laughed.

 

**xxx**

 

Sora flopped down into the sand, breathing heavily. “I’m exhausted!” he moaned. “Tidus beat me for the tenth time this morning! I just- I can’t beat him!!”

“I don’t get why you guys do this,” Kairi said, glancing down at Sora as he flopped down onto his back.

“Do what?” he asked, putting his hands behind his head.

“Beat each other up with toy swords,” she answered.

“’Cause it’s fun!” Sora laughed.

Kairi merely shrugged. “ _I_ think it’s kinda stupid,” she muttered.

He sat up slightly so he could get a better look at her. “Really?” he asked, bewildered. She nodded. He made a face. “But- but even Selphie fights-” he stuttered.

“Well, _I’m_ not Selphie,” Kairi told him firmly. “And _I_ don’t like fighting. I mean, seriously, what’s the point of it?”

“To fight off the monsters,” Sora replied matter-of-factly.

Kairi laughed. “What monsters?”

“You know, _the_ monsters!” Sora exclaimed, as if it was obvious. However, when Kairi didn’t show any signs of understanding, he sighed and flopped back down onto his back. “Never mind…”

“Exactly. Stupid,” Kairi muttered.

Sora was silent for a moment, thinking about something. “If you didn’t think it was stupid,” he said after a moment. “I could teach you how to fight.” He sighed exaggeratedly. “But… since you think it’s stupid-”

“It is!”

“Fine then,” Sora laughed. “When the monsters come, and you can’t fight them off, I’m going to laugh.”

Kairi raised her eyebrows. “Would you really?”

He was quiet for a bit, as if thinking about it. Finally, he shook his head. “Nah, I wouldn’t,” he told her. “You know what I _would_ do _?_ ”

“Hmm?”

“I’d make sure you stayed safe,” he whispered, and then grinned up at her. “Since you don’t want to learn how to fight and all.”

She blushed slightly. “Thank you, Sora.”

He shrugged. “Sure thing,” he replied. “It’s kinda cool, anyway. It’s like _you’re_ the princess who shouldn’t be fighting ‘cause, well, she’s the _princess_. And then I’m the knight who protects you.” He was silent for a moment, and then sighed wistfully. “I’ve always wanted to be a knight.”

Kairi glanced over at him. He wasn’t looking at her, but at the sky. His eyes weren’t entirely focused, like he was deep in thought. She smiled slightly, and then reached for Sora’s toy sword. Sora didn’t even notice. He did notice, however, when Kairi rose to her feet and dragged him with her.

“Kneel,” she commanded, gesturing with the sword.

He stared at her for a moment, but then slowly knelt down.

“As Princess of this Island,” Kairi said, trying to make her voice sound as princess-y as she possibly could. “I hereby knight thee-” She tapped Sora first on one shoulder with the toy sword, and then tapped him on the other. “Sir Sora!”

Sora looked up at her in shock. Then he broke out into a grin and hopped to his feet.

“Kairi!” he said, practically laughing in his excitement. “Thank you!”

Before she could respond, he had pulled her into a hug. She laughed, and then hugged him back.

“No need to thank me, Sora,” she said, resting her head against his chest. “It’s not like that was even real. Besides, I’m sure you’d be a wonderful knight.”

“You think so?” he asked, pulling away slightly so he could look down at her.

She smiled.

“Of course, silly.”

 

**xxx**

 

“Sir Joseph, stand down!”

Sora (who was playing the part of Sir Joseph) turned to her, exasperated, but did not lower his sword. “Princess Janine,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. “This man is a thief and a menace to the kingdom, we can’t-”

“I think he deserves a second chance,” Kairi (who was playing the part of Princess Janine) interrupted, placing her hands on her hips.

Sora turned back to Tidus (who was playing the part of the theif: Tobias) and grimaced, but then lowered his sword.

“We’ll take him to my father,” Kairi said. “He’ll know what to-”

A phone rang. Everyone turned to the director, who was fumbling to answer his ringing phone. He motioned for them to keep going.

“What to do with him,” Kairi continued, a bit shakily, not recovering well from the interruption.

“Thank you, Princess,” Tidus said. “I-”

“Hold up kids!” the director called, stopping him. “I’m sorry, you guys were doing great and I hate to stop you, but I’ve got a family emergency that just came up and I have to cut practice short! Sorry.”

Almost everyone spoke up to tell him that it was fine.

“Thanks for understanding!” the director said, heading for the door. “See you guys tomorrow!”

Sora sighed, stretched, and then went backstage to put his sword away. Selphie was back there, chatting away with another stagehand about the original version of the story. Apparently, the play adaption was much different, and Selphie wasn’t too happy about it.

“You were great today… sir Sora,” Kairi said.

Sora smiled and turned to her. “It’s fitting, isn’t it? You’re the princess, and I’m the knight.”

She laughed.

He grinned.

“I’m so glad you managed to get the part,” he said, placing his sword in its place. “I was afraid you weren’t going to get it.”

Kairi slowly frowned.

“Did you think I wasn’t good enough or something?”

Sora paused and turned back to her. He started to say something, and then stopped and grimaced. “Well…” he said, slowly. “You didn’t seem very sure about your lines when you practiced your audition with me…”

Kairi’s frown quickly became a scowl.

“You don’t think I’m good enough for the part!” she accused.

Sora started to form a reply, but didn’t get the chance.

“Yeah, in the original version, Sir Joseph and Princess Janine kissed,” Selphie said, and then sighed wistfully. “It was sooo romantic!”

Both Sora and Kairi turned to her in shock.

“What!?” they exclaimed, almost simultaneously.

Selphie glanced over at them. “Hmm? You didn’t know?” She frowned in confusion. “I thought you said you knew this story, Sora!”

“I said I’d seen the play before, that’s all,” Sora replied.

“Oh!” Selphie laughed. “That makes _much_ more sense! The play isn’t like the original story at all! No wonder you’re confused!” She shook her head. “I still think the original version is much better.”

Sora made a face.

“I like the play version,” he muttered.

Tidus (who had just joined the conversation) snorted. “I bet he’s only saying that because he doesn’t want to have to kiss Kairi!”

“Hey!” Sora protested. “I didn’t say that!”

“No, but you were _thinking_ it!”

“Was not!”

“I bet you thought it would be _gross_ , too!”

Sora’s face was red with embarrassment by this point. He glared at Tidus, then threw a glance at Kairi, then glared at Tidus again. Kairi folded her arms over her chest and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes in annoyance.

“Sora,” she said. “If you really did have to kiss me, would you do it?”

He made a face.

“Well… I- I don’t know…”

Her eyes widened with something between shock and anger.

“You don’t like me!”

Sora scowled in confusion, not quite sure how he had gotten himself into this mess.

“What!?” he exclaimed. “No, I- Kairi!”

She pointedly turned away from him. He stared at her for a moment, and then grimaced. What was he supposed to do now?

After a moment he grabbed her by the shoulder.

“I- of course I like you, Kairi,” he said. “But you’re my best friend! I couldn’t kiss you! It’d be too weird!”

She thought about it for a moment, then scrunched up her face.

“Uck, yeah,” she agreed. “It _would_ be weird!”


	6. (BBS) An Adventurer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua stops on Destiny Islands, and runs into a very special boy. She wonders... would he be fit for the Keyblade?

“Terra, please…” Aqua whispered, clutching her Wayfinder tightly to her chest. “ _Please_ be safe…”

An island breeze blew past her, but she hardly felt it. The sun shone high above her head, but she hardly noticed. Waves beat constantly against the shore, gently, but their sound didn’t even reach her ears.

Her mind was… elsewhere.

 _It can’t be too late…_ she thought, desperately.

_The darkness hasn’t won this yet…_

_I know he’s still fighting…_

_…he has to be…_

“I’ll be right back, Kairi!! Just give me a- oof!”

Aqua glanced down in shock. A young boy, who obviously hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going, just ran into her. He was probably about seven or so, his hair brown and almost ridiculously spiky. When he turned around to face her, she noticed that he had big blue eyes that were strikingly familiar.

“Whoops! Sorry about that!” the boy said, scratching the back of his head. “I’m not used to having people in my way.”

Aqua couldn’t help but laugh slightly.

_He’s just like Ven…_

“It’s alright,” she assured him, pocketing her Wayfinder. She sighed. Her heart still felt ridiculously heavy, even if this boy had lifted her spirits slightly. “I should be going, anyway.”

_I’ve… been here long enough…_

“Go where?” the boy asked, and then gasped in sudden excitement. “Are you on an adventure!?”

Aqua raised her eyebrows.

“Adventure?” she repeated slowly, and then smiled.

Oh childlike innocence.

“Yeah, I suppose I am.”

“That is so cool!!” the boy exclaimed, practically jumping up and down with excitement now. “I can’t believe I’m talking to a real live adventurer!!” He pulled a toy sword out of his belt and swung it around a time or two before grinning up at her. “I want to be an adventurer someday, too!”

She smiled back at him, though she had to work to keep the smile on her face. The playful spirit and hopeful excitement of this boy reminded her all too well of happier, brighter times with Ven and Terra. Times when they still got along. Times before everything went wrong…

Times that she wasn’t going to get back…

The boy frowned suddenly, regarding her with confusion.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

She quickly reached up and wiped away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

“I- I’m fine,” she said, voice quiet. “I’m just thinking about my friends….”

“Then why do you look so sad? You shouldn’t be sad when you think about your friends! Your friends should make you happy!”

She turned away.

_So why is it that when I think of him, my heart feels even heavier?_

She took a deep breath, and then forced the smile back onto her face. She didn’t need to worry some young boy with all her troubles. She turned back to him and knelt down slightly so she could look him in the eye.

“Listen, I’d love to talk to you,” she said. “But I really need to get going, okay?” She took a few steps away from him, and turned to leave.

“Wait!” the boy called, grabbing her by the wrist.

_Light._

She turned back to him in shock. He was staring up at her, eyes filled with concern and compassion.

_He’s so bright. How did I not notice before now?_

_I wonder…_

_Could he be…?_

“What’s your name?” she asked.

He frowned, as if he didn’t quite understand her change of pace.

“Sora,” he replied, slowly, letting go of her hand.

She smiled and knelt down to his level again. “So, Sora, you said you wanted to be an adventurer, hmm?”

He nodded, the excited grin returning to his face. “Yeah! I want to be an adventurer more than anything! I wanna explore, and see different places, and- and I wanna kill monsters, too!”

Aqua laughed.

“What kind of monsters?”

“Big scary ones!” Sora declared, and then thrust his toy sword forward, as if he were driving it through the heart of an invisible monster. “Then I could protect everyone I cared about!”

“Maybe I can help you out,” Aqua said, and then summoned her Keyblade.

Sora’s eyes went wide in shock.

“Whooaa! How’d you do that!?! That is so cool!! It’s like magic!!”

Aqua laughed again held the hilt of the blade out to him.

“In your hand take this key,” she began. “And so long as you-”

“Sooorrraaaaa!!!” someone, a girl from the sounds of it, called. She sounded rather annoyed. And, sure enough, a girl with fiery red hair and blue eyes came storming over.

“What is taking you so long!?” she demanded.

“Kairi!” Sora whined. “I’m in the middle of something!”

The girl, who Aqua assumed was Kairi, frowned and folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

“You _said_ you’d be right back!”

Sora grimaced and scratched his head.

“Well, I… I ran into, uhh…” He glanced over at Aqua, frowning slightly.

Aqua raised her eyebrows in confusion, and then realized that she hadn’t bothered to introduce herself. She laughed nervously. “Oh, sorry! My name’s Aqua.”

“She’s a real live adventurer!” Sora exclaimed, jumping up and down slightly in excitement again.

Kairi uncrossed her arms, eyes widening with curiosity.

“Really?”

Sora nodded.

“Yeah, and she was about to do something when you showed up and ruined it!!”

Aqua laughed.

“It’s alright Sora, she didn’t ruin anything.”

He breathed a visible sigh of relief.

Aqua only smiled and shook her head. She turned to Kairi. Kairi was regarding her with an odd expression, as if she wasn’t entirely sure what to think.

“So, Kairi,” Aqua said. “Sora told me that he wanted to be an adventurer, and that he wanted to be able to fight monsters. And… you two look like you’re good friends-”

“Best friends!” Sora interrupted. “We’re _best_ friends, aren’t we Kairi?”

He turned to her, and she nodded.

Aqua’s smile widened.

“Since you’re _best_ friends,” she continued. “I’d assume that if Sora went on an adventure, you’d want to go with him, right?”

Kairi nodded enthusiastically.

“I’d love to go with him! But… I’d let him take care of the monsters.”

It took Aqua a lot of effort to _not_ laugh at that.

“So, if I were to give Sora the chance to go on adventures someday and fight monsters like he wants, you wouldn’t be too upset, would you?”

Kairi shook her head.

_That’s good…_

_Sora has the potential to be a powerful Keyblade Wielder. I wouldn’t want to deny him the chance to become one because I can’t pass the power to both him and Kairi._

_But… Kairi doesn’t seem interested at all…_

_However…_

“Sora, you have to _promise_ me, that if you do go on an adventure, you take Kairi with you, got it?”

Sora nodded.

“Of course!”

Aqua smiled and held her Keyblade out to him again.

“Then in your hand take this key,” she said. “And so long as you have the makings, then by this simple act of taking, it’s wielder you shall someday be. But there’s no need to fear, my friend. No power could withstand you then—”

His eyes lit up slightly at the mention of that.

“No power of darkness, no power of light,” Aqua continued, though Sora’s excitement over the promise of power didn’t go unnoticed. She swallowed, and then finished: “So long as you keep your friends in sight.”

Sora stared at her for a second, then reached out and closed his hand around the hilt of her blade. They stood there in silence for a moment, and then he grimaced.

“I’m not sure if that worked…” he said, slowly.

Aqua laughed.

“I’m pretty sure it worked,” she assured him.

“Oh,” he muttered, and then let go of the blade. Aqua banished it and reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Can you two do me a favor?” she asked, glancing over at Kairi and then back at Sora. They both nodded enthusiastically. “Keep this a secret, okay?”

Kairi made a face.

“Why?”

“Cause all the magic’ll wear off if we tell, huh?” Sora replied, though it was half a question.

Aqua smiled and rose to her feet. “Something like that,” she said.

“Then we better get going!” Sora exclaimed. “People might start getting _suspicious_!” He turned and started off, but not before swiping his toy sword through an invisible monster. He started running again, but stopped and flashed a grin back at Aqua. “Hey! Maybe I’ll run into you in one of my adventures!!”

“Maybe,” Aqua laughed.

His grin widened and he started running again.

Kairi started after him.

Aqua watched them go with a sigh.

_They should be alright._

_But…_

There was something in her that was uncertain.

Something that felt like maybe things wouldn’t turn out like she hoped.

Again.

“Hey wait, Kairi!” she called.

Kairi stopped and turned back to her. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Kairi nodded and started over. Sora made to follow her, but she stopped him. He made a face, like he were protesting. She rolled her eyes told him something, Aqua didn’t quite hear what, but Sora immediately lost interest.

“What did you want?” Kairi asked, running over to Aqua.

Aqua didn’t respond right away; she was watching as Sora started fighting invisible monsters again. She sighed.

_He’s such a bright boy…_

_I would hate for anything to happen to him…_

“Don’t worry,” Kairi giggled, misreading Aqua’s uncertainty. “I told him we were gonna talk about stupid girl stuff.” She paused. “This _isn’t_ about stupid girl stuff, is it?”

Aqua laughed.

Kids.

“No,” she assured Kairi. “This is about something else.”

Kairi breathed a sigh of relief.

Aqua slowly knelt down so she could look Kairi in the eye.

“Listen, Kairi, I hate to ask another favor of you,” she said. “But I want you to look after Sora.”

Kairi burst out laughing.

“ _Me!?_ Look after _Sora!?_ ” she managed to gasp through her laughter. “You’re _funny!_ ”

“Kairi, I mean it,” Aqua said firmly.

Kairi stopped laughing.

Aqua sighed and turned to Sora again.

“I want you to look after him,” she repeated. “I- I don’t think anything’s going to happen to him, but…” she trailed off.

_Not long ago, I didn’t think anything was going to happen to Terra, either…_

Kairi turned to Sora, too, and they watched as he tossed a rock into the air and tried to hit it with his sword. He missed. The rock hit him in the head.

Kairi laughed.

“But he might do something stupid,” she finished.

Aqua smiled.

That was one way to put it.

“And if he does,” she said. “Make sure you’re with him so you can knock some sense into him, okay?”

Kairi giggled.

“Okay!” she exclaimed, breaking out into a grin. “I can do that!”

And before Aqua could say anymore, she was running towards Sora, only shouting a quick “Bye!” over her shoulder and waving. Aqua waved back, though she was sure that Kairi didn’t actually see it.

She sighed.

_Maybe…_

_Maybe she’ll be able to do what I couldn’t, and be able to keep him from going astray…_

She pulled her Wayfinder out of her pocket and clutched it tightly.

“Terra… please… don’t let it be too late…”


	7. (CoM) Let's Blame Larxene, Shall we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aka: the Reason Riku hates to be caught crying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very, very, _very_ old document, which I ended up not cross-posting when I moved from FFN. I'm pretty sure I know uh, why I thought it wasn't worth cross-posting, but upon a brief reread this seems like too much of an important piece of FtPverse's lore to leave out, so. Here it is.

He hugged his knees tightly to his chest, trying to find some form of comfort in the pit of despair he had just fallen into. He was confused, he  _hated_  being confused. Plus, he hurt. His entire body was sore from the battle with Sora, and there was this throbbing in his chest-

He was also starting to get a headache…

He clutched his knees tighter, trying to steady himself. He had finally stopped crying just recently, but it felt like he might start crying again any second now.

" _There_  you are!" someone called.

He tensed. It was Larxene.

He didn't like her.

"What do you want, Larxene?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. He didn't really  _care_ , though. He hurt too much  _to_  care.

"You gave us quite a scare, disappearing like that," Larxene explained. Her voice was sickly sweet, as if she actually was worried, but he knew it was just an act. "Is something wrong?"

He grimaced.

"I- I don't get it," he said, bitterly. " _I'm_  supposed to be the stronger one! Why did Sora beat me? When did he get so strong!" He pounded his fist angrily against the ground. Tears were running down his cheeks again.

Larxene laughed then. His eyes narrowed in anger, but his tears didn't stop.

"Aw, is little Riku upset about something?" she asked, her "caring" tone immediately falling into taunting now that she had something to tease him about.

He shot a glare up at her. His hand moved to his side, curling into a fist. He wanted to summon his blade, but he knew that it would be a bad idea, so he refrained.

"Are you  _crying_!" Larxene exclaimed, putting a finger under his chin and tilting his face up so she could look at him better. He batted her hand away, his glare deepening and his hate for her growing. She laughed. A shiver went down his spine.

"Aww, is poor little Riku hurt? Has he got an owie?"

She was enjoying this too much for his liking.

"Just leave me alone," he muttered, turning away.

A knife hit the wall next to him, embedding itself there. It was sparking slightly with electricity. He flinched away from it, and then turned back to Larxene, a bit shocked, and maybe a bit… scared, now.

She was glaring.

"Don't cry," she told him, firmly. "It's annoying."

He stared, unsure of what to do now. He had the sudden urge to wipe his tears away, but he also felt that doing so would only make Larxene feel like she was getting her way. He kept his hands at his side.

"Only  _weak_  people cry," she continued. "You don't want Sora to think you're weak, do you?"

"No."

"And what about Namine? Imagine how hard it must be on her, when her  _hero_  is a weakling who cries all the time? You want to be strong for her, don't you?"

"Of course I do," he said, quietly, looking Larxene in the eye as he did so.

There was no kidding when it came to Namine.

She made a face.

"Then stop crying, got it?"

He grunted. She threw another knife at him, though it missed just like the last one. This one, however, had more lightning in it, and some of the lightning shocked him. He gasped, and then flinched away from the knife.

"Got it," he muttered.

"Good."


	8. (DI/CE) Axel, you're in the wrong universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magik's Axel ends up in FtPverse for a spell. Happens along with chapters 92-95 of Dead Inside. Enjoy the adventures of Axel squared. (Penned mostly by magik.)

"Well, let's see how this works," Axel said, fingering the star shard in his hands. "Take me to where Kuin is."

The star shard activated.

Axel found himself in The World that Never Was. He frowned.

"Okay, I  _seriously_ doubt…"

"Axel, what are you doing here? I thought you were sent out on recon!"

Axel blanched at the Vexen Replica. (Well, he  _figured_ it was a Vexen Replica. Generally speaking, the Replicas were more polite than the original Vexen.)

He stood there, dumbfounded for a couple of seconds, trying to gather what the heck was going on.

Why was there a Vexen Replica in The World that Never Was? Why was  _he_ expected to be doing recon? This was back like the days at the…

Parallel universe. He was in that effing parallel universe that Xion had mentioned.

"Just got back," he said, off-handedly.

This seemed to satisfy the Vexen Replica (whose number just so happened to be Number 5). He walked away, satisfied with that answer.

"Assuming this is the same universe, then me and the other Axel aren't  _that_ much different. He's probably a traitor, too."

He snorted.

"I start analyzing things like those Vexen Replicas the minute I start being around too many of them.  _And_ I start talking to myself. Fan-freaking-tastic."

Axel decided that he would much rather be anywhere else but here. However, he wasn't exactly sure  _how_ the heck he was supposed to get back to  _his_ universe.

"It  _really_ bothers me how many privileges that L gets," Larxene Q (though Axel didn't know that) muttered.

"It's only because she went and got close to that gross 37!" another Larxene (Larxene H) replied.

"I don't know what she sees in him! All of the Vexens are  _so_ weird! And like… just…  _ew_!"

"And to think that he actually likes her back!"

A Marluxia Replica (well, Axel figured that he was a Replica, everyone else here was) walked up to the pair of Larxenes.

"You do know that if either of them hears you talking about them like this, they  _will_ Rewrite you. Since Deactivating isn't an option anymore."

Larxene H snuck her hand around his waist. "Oh, Bloodroot, you  _know_ we don't mean any harm by it!"

He kissed her forehead.

Axel puked a little on the inside. He then decided that they  _had_ to be Replicas. Because Nobodies didn't do crap like that.

"Axel!" Larxene Q said, looking at him.

Axel cursed internally. He was hoping to have left before anyone noticed him.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and hoping he sounded bored enough.

"Saix wanted you to report to his office as soon as you got back from recon!"

"Since when do I have to take orders from you?" he repeated, his voice sounding rather whiny in an imitation of her.

She looked taken aback.

He hoped that he hadn't just done something that the Axel from  _this_ universe would have done. That was the  _last_ thing he wanted to do, get a fellow Axel in trouble.

However, given the glare that the Larxene Replica was giving him, he figured this was merely normal.

He just about activated the star shard right then and there, just to freak them out. But he figured that  _probably_ wouldn't be something that this Axel would do. As much as Riku and Namine were going to kill him for this…

He stuck an arm out beside him and formed a dark corridor to his bedroom.

"Walking never was quick enough for you," Bloodroot muttered as Axel walked through.

Axel had been hoping that he would have shown up in his own room. Unfortunately, given the fact that this room had a dart board still on the wall, he had to assume that he was still in the other universe. In the other Axel's room.

"Well, this is odd."

"You're telling me."

Axel turned around to find himself face-to-face with, well, himself.

"Don't  _tell_ me they stole enough of my data to make a replica of me! I  _told_ Vexen…"

Axel threw up his hands in defense. "I'm no replica. Trust me. I'm not even a Nobody."

"You lost me."

"I'm from a parallel universe."

"You're joking."

"Yeah, I wish I was. I don't really understand much of it either. All I know is that the universe that I'm from and this universe are connected because of someone screwing around. My star shard decided that now would be an excellent time to come over here. Now I've gotta figure out how to get back."

"So, you're not some joke that Saix is playing on me?"

"Absolutely not."

The other Axel got a very maniacal grin on his face. He cracked his knuckles and flopped down on his bed behind him.

"Well, while you're here, why don't you say we have a little bit of fun?"

"Well, I  _was_ thinking about setting one of those Larxene Replicas on fire…"

"Which ones?"

"I don't know. There were two of them, and they were gossiping. Then a Marluxia Replica walked up and…"

"Oh, you can stop there. I don't want to hear it. You're talking about Q and H. H is the one with the… boyfriend."

"Man, I really feel for you."

"I get my revenge," the other Axel said, shrugging. "I have good fun."

"So, what do you propose we do?" Axel said, leaning casually against the wall.

"Well, currently right now there happens to be a small group of replicas breaking into Saix's computer room."

Axel raised his eyebrows.

"They're the Rebellion. They're hoping to lock Saix out so that he can stop Rewriting them at every turn of the chakram."

"And where do  _you_ stand on all of this?"

"Well, officially, I  _have_ to be against them. However, I'm all for them usurping Saix off of his high-horse. The power he got with the Replica Program went to his head."

Axel grimaced.

"Saix  _hates_ Replicas."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know. And it's not like he even does anything! He just sends 37 and L to do most of his dirty work. Putting  _them_ together was a  _very_ bad idea."

Axel remembered the other two Larxene Replicas talking about L and 37. He decided he didn't want to know.

He snorted. "How so like Saix."

"What's Saix doing in your universe?"

"Oh, he's dead."

The other Axel blanched. His nose twitched. His eyebrows twitched. He coughed.

"Well then."

"Yeah, the darkness got to him."

"As a Nobody?"

"As a Somebody. I'm warning you now,  _don't_ get on Sora's bad side."

"Nah, here it's don't get on Riku's bad side."

"I've gotta ask. Roxas?"

"Replica. Stepped out of line one too many times. Think about it."

Axel growled.

"Yeah. I yelled at Saix for that one. I'm probably going to yell at him again."

"I wish you the best of luck with getting through his thick skull."

"Thanks. I'm hoping that this little incursion into Saix's computer will be enough of a blow. I'm the one that got them the darn key!"

Axel laughed. "Nice one, man."

He shrugged. "I like Joseph. He's a funny kid. Pity Saix had to go and scare 29 to the Rebellion's side. I liked having him around."

"I think I've met Joseph."

"Oh really now?"

"Yeah, he showed up in our Twilight Town. Bought me and my friends ice cream."

"That's Joseph, all right."

Axel was about to respond when he was interrupted by the sound of one of the Larxene Replica's shrieks.

"It's one of those stupid kids! Get him out of here! Get him out of here!"

The other Axel hauled himself off of his bed. "Speaking of the little devil. That's Joseph. He's the only kid still around." He shook his head. "The way she's screaming, you'd think she was talking about a cockroach."

The two Axel's stuck their heads out of the door and they looked down the hallway. Joseph was parading up the hallway with a wooden sword on his shoulder. No one else was around at the moment. They were probably all still in the Grey Area.

"Oh, don't mind me," he called. "I'm only creating a distraction."

"Joseph!" the other Axel hissed. "Do you  _want_ them to know that you're a distraction?"

Joseph looked over at the two of them.

"Hi!" he said. "Nah, it doesn't really matter. The one person whose name I can't mention here for reasons just said that I need to make a whole bunch of noise. I haven't even  _gotten_ to the chandelier yet!"

"The giant one in the Grey Area?" Axel asked.

"Yup! That's the one!"

Axel gave the kid a thumbs up.

"Hey!" someone else said. "Since when are there two of you!"

It was Xigbar. Or, well, someone that looked like Xigbar. Axel would not have been surprised if there were replicas of him too.

"Don't worry about it," the other Axel said. "Or, rather, shouldn't you be worrying about whatever it is Larxene H is screaming her head off about."

"How  _do_ you tell them apart?" Xigbar asked. "I'm a replica same as they are and I have no clue."

"Each Larxene has a different level of  _annoying_. Or, maybe it just helps that I spent enough time with the real one." He shrugged.

"So, since when do  _you_ have a clone? I thought I was special!"

Axel wasn't sure if he could trust this Xigbar Replica. Himself, he could tell about parallel universes and whatnot. Xigbar… well, he never had trusted Xigbar. Replica of one or not.

"Oh, he's my friend," Joseph said. "I bought him ice cream once. And I  _never_ forget the people I buy ice cream for!"

This was apparently, somehow, enough to satisfy the Xigbar Replica. He pulled out his guns and started going to the Grey Area.

"Sure, so he walks  _towards_ the screaming Larxenes," the other Axel muttered.

"I should to back out there," Joseph mused. "I was causing  _way_ more of a distraction there."

"You go do that," Axel said.

Joseph marched off.

Axel took one look at his doppelganger. They exchanged a curt nod, then each of them pulled their hoods up.

"So, can you tell the difference of people in their cloaks?" Axel asked.

"Can you?"

He nodded.

"Must be an Axel thing." He tapped his forehead. "Got it memorized?"

They both laughed and made their way after Xigbar's Clone and Joseph.

And they both promptly burst out laughing when they saw Joseph dangling from the chandelier. There was also a Vexen Replica (Number 5 again) who was yelling at him to get down.

"I don't have to listen to you! You big ol' meanie! You let Saix destroy Patrick! Patrick only had a cold!"

"Replicas shouldn't get sick!"

Joseph let go of the banister, pulling off a backflip in midair. He landed on the table and stuck his tongue out at 5.

Axel resisted the urge to applaud.

" _You've_ never been around kids then!" Joseph said.

And he ran off, farther into the Castle. Well, he started to anyways. He stopped himself mid-run. He backpedaled and turned around.

"I forgot the WINNER sticks!" he shouted.

He started running back off toward the Hallway of Bedrooms. Somehow, he managed to dodge every Vexen, Larxene, and Marluxia Replica that dove for him. Xigbar's Clone had situated himself on one of the couches and was thoroughly enjoying the whole show.

Axel and the other Axel just watched the kid go.

About three Larxenes and two Vexens tore after him.

"Should we help the kid?" Axel asked.

The other Axel shrugged.

However, before either of them had a chance to run after him, a few laser bullets hit the ground behind the angry replicas.

The two Vexens stopped short. The Larxenes took a bit, but they got the message too.

"Leave the poor kid alone," Xigbar's Clone declared. "I like him. Let him get his WINNER sticks."

"But he's a mistake!" Larxene S shrieked. "And mistakes should be destroyed! Just like that…"

Q put a hand around S's mouth.

"Do you  _want_ Riku to show up and slit your throat?" she hissed.

S bit her hand, which quickly turned into them pulling each other's hair and scratching each other. Xigbar's Clone rolled his eyes and shot off a laser bullet into the fray. It hit Q in the foot.

"Oi! Watch it!" she shouted.

"Don't go hurting each other. Though it's amusing for the rest of us to watch…"

"It's not like Riku can even hear us," S whined.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Joseph muttered, shoving a whole bunch of WINNER sticks in his pockets as he walked out of his old room.

"What do you mean?" Q asked, suspiciously.

"Riku  _always_ knows when you're talking about Namine. Always."

"Remember G and N?" H hissed. "Riku appeared out of  _nowhere_ and killed them both!"

Joseph snorted.

"You know anything about that, kid?" Xigbar's Clone asked.

"Nope," Joseph said, tossing a WINNER stick up in the air. "But it certainly sounds like something Riku would do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be. Catch me if you can!"

He pulled a star shard out of his pocket and activated it.

"We should follow him!" H said.

"And where do you suppose he went?" 5 asked, glaring at her. "He had a star shard, he could have gone anywhere."

"He's still in the Castle," 31 said.

"How do you know?" S asked, sneering at him.

"Star shards make different sound when they go-off world as opposed to staying in-world. He's still in the Castle somewhere."

"How do you even  _know_ that?" Q asked.

"Does it matter?" H asked, sounding very bored. Though, this might be because she was putting up a different demeanor now that Bloodroot had shown up.

"We're forgetting the part where we have an experiment child running around in the Castle," Bloodroot said. "He's going to start causing problems any minute now."

One of the doors burst open and 37 ran out.

"Someone's broken into the Computer Room!" he shouted.

No one seemed to react for a moment.

"Wait, you sleep?" Xigbar's Clone asked.

No one answered him.

"I thought L broke into the Computer Room all the time," H said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I gave her privileges," 37 muttered.

Every single Larxene and Vexen (aside from 37 himself) grimaced. Even Bloodroot and Xigbar's Clone frowned a little.

H even went as far to make puking noises. 37 pointedly ignored her.

When no one else made a move to go save the computer, 37 cursed and tore off.

"Who wants to follow him?" Bloodroot asked.

Xigbar's Clone shrugged. "I'll go. But not because I'm helping 37, but because this might be fun. I've been wondering how well Riku can stand up to my guns."

He disappeared.

"Riku's here?" S asked, her face going white.

"Well, if someone's raiding the castle, wouldn't you  _assume_ it's Riku?" the other Axel asked. "I mean, he is leading the Rebellion, isn't he?"

"Axel, why do you have your hood up?" Q asked.

"Does it really matter to you?" he replied.

"Wait a second, who are you?" S asked, pointing to Axel.

Keeping his cool, Axel calmly backed into a dark corridor.

"Something is amiss here," Luxord said.

Everyone turned to look at him. He was sitting on one of the couches, calmly shuffling a deck of cards.

"How long have  _you_ been there?" Bloodroot asked.

"That doesn't matter!" H hissed. "We have an intruder here! What if that was Riku?"

"If it was Riku, S'd be dead," Q said.

"Well, it was surely someone from  _their_ side!" H said.

"Well, we can already figure that it was someone from their side," the other Axel said, taking down his hood. "I mean, 37  _did_ say that the Computer Room had been breached."

"You seem to know a lot about this, Axel," Bloodroot accused.

"Half of my recon missions are to keep an eye on the Rebellion," Axel spat back. "It's my  _job_."

Bloodroot turned up his nose, still suspicious.

Larxene L burst out of another bedroom.

"I'm coming, sweetie!" she spoke into a walkie talkie. She paused a moment to glare at all of those in the Grey Area. "I don't see any of  _you_ helping!" she spat.

"37 has  _you_ , though!" Q said, her voice sickly sweet. "Go help him."

L disappeared into a dark corridor.

"I'm going to go see if I can wrangle the kid," Axel said. "He might just listen to me before he causes any trouble. I heard him muttering something about crashing a chandelier."

"What, this chandelier?" Bloodroot asked, pointing to the one above them.

"Yeah, so you stay here in case he comes back. I'll try to head him off. Since that sounds _so_ much more preferable to Riku's blade in my gut."

With that, Axel disappeared into a dark corridor.

"Thought you might show up here," the other Axel said to his doppelganger.

"Well," he replied, reclining back on the bed. "I can't seem to figure out how to get to my own universe. And this seemed like the safest place, since  _we're_ the only two who can form a dark corridor here."

"Twilight Town's pretty quiet; provided Joseph's not there, since 37 has it rigged so that as soon as Joseph goes anywhere outside of Castle Oblivion, Berserkers start trying to capture him."

"Why does 37 need Joseph?"

"37 doesn't. Saix does."

"Why?"

The other Axel shrugged. "How should I know? It's Saix we're talking about."

"Do you want to go see what the boy's up to?" Axel asked. "I thought I heard you say something about wrangling him."

"Yeah, well, that involves finding him. Joseph knows this place better than any of us."

"I  _think_ I can cheat," Axel said. "My star shard's pretty good about taking me to where other people are. Except this last time when I showed up here. But, you know, I'm three for four right now."

"All right, let's see how this works."

Axel grabbed onto the other Axel's arm and activated the star shard.

They appeared in one of the many white and grey hallways of the Castle that Never Was.

"Yes, this worked  _real_ well," the other Axel said, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait for it!" Axel said, holding up a hand.

The sound of little footsteps pounding down the hallways filled the air. From around the corner, not one, but  _two_ boys ran. They hit the two Axels full-force. Joseph only reeled a little, holding his head a tad. Axel hadn't suffered much. He'd had worse things through his gut.

The other boy, however, hit the other Axel and went flying backwards. Instinctively, the other Axel went over and helped the kid up.

"There's another one?" he asked, flabbergasted. "I thought Saix…"

"Saix couldn't kill me, Sir," the boy said quietly. "He said I looked too much like you."

"Vexen  _did_ get my data!" the other Axel growled.

For sure enough, the boy had flaming red hair; though he had blue eyes—more like Zexion or Marluxia.

"What's your name, kid?" the other Axel asked.

"Toby, sir. I didn't know you had a replica."

"I'm not a replica," Axel said.

Just as he said this, Joseph added, "He's from a parallel universe!"

Toby's eyes went wide.

"I'll explain later," Joseph said, his voice positively brimming with excitement. "First we've gotta get that chandelier! It's on my bucket list!"

"Do you even know what a bucket list is?" Axel asked.

"Nope, but I heard Vexen use it once," Joseph replied with a shrug. He turned to Toby. "Come on!"

"Wait just a second," the other Axel said. "You're running into a horde of Larxenes!"

"We can take 'em!" Joseph said. "19 is still gonna need a distraction."

"What about Toby?" Axel asked.

"He's going to help me with the chandelier. And then, I'm taking him to Castle Oblivion. Because, he shouldn't have to stay cooped up here."

Joseph beckoned to Toby and the two of them took off again.

"The star shard will be faster!" Axel called out.

"Oh! Good idea!" Joseph grabbed Toby's hand and activated the star shard. The two boys disappeared.

The other Axel massaged his temples. "I can only hope they get out of there all right," he said. "I feel oddly responsible for the kid—kids!"

"I think we all do," Axel replied, scratching his neck. "I'm also oddly flattered that Saix wouldn't kill Toby because he looks like you. And me, I suppose."

"I can't believe I didn't know about it!" the other Axel replied. "I mean, I know Saix and I don't share life stories, but,  _this_ , come on!"  
Axel raised an eyebrow. "This is Saix we're talking about."

"He killed all the kids, except Joseph…"

"And if he couldn't kill Toby because of phantom emotions, would he admit that to anyone?"

"Ah, no. No, he wouldn't."

"Precisely."

"You know, I bet that's why he wanted Joseph. He only wanted Joseph dead because Joseph was a nuisance. If he was trying to get Toby a friend, he could  _easily_ rewrite Joseph to be a complacent little… Wow, Saix, that's low if that's what you were going for."

"Is it, though?" Axel asked.

"Rewriting Joseph? Of  _course_ that's low. I mean, everyone except him likes the kid."

"The Larxene Replicas…"

"They don't count because they're Larxene."

"Valid."

"The only thing worse he could do would be to Rewrite Namine. Because, well, that's just, cruelty at that point. Cruelty to Riku."

"You don't have to tell me. Even though they're both Somebodies in my universe, you don't even have to go there."

The other Axel snorted.

"So, should we go keep an eye on Joseph and Toby?" Axel asked, jerking a thumb in the direction the two boys had been running before Joseph had used the star shard.

"We're now risking my cover," the other Axel replied, frowning.

"Oh, good luck with that."

"How'd it work out for you?"

"Well, I'm the only one who made it out of Castle Oblivion alive."

"Same. Well, no one's seen Lexaeus, but, what can you do?"

Axel snorted. "Well, after Castle Oblivion, I just kept up appearances until I refused to either bring Roxas back to the Organization or kill him."

The other Axel's mouth dropped. "You were ordered to kill him?"

Axel shrugged. "More or less."

"Harsh."

"Tell me about it."

The other Axel thought for a minute. "I want to say that Luxord would make sure the kids lived."

"Still thinking about that, eh?"

"Losing Roxas, and Xion… makes you look out for the little ones all the more."

Axel patted the other Axel's shoulder.

"I wish you luck with Saix. It sounds like the two of you have more bad blood than me and my old friend. I can't promise you anything on how it turns out. But, if you both come back in the next life, try and make amends."

"Next life?"

"Sora killed Saix, I sacrificed myself for Roxas. We both came back as Somebodies. Unfortunately, by the time I finally got through his head, the darkness was too much."

The other Axel nodded. "I think I'm going to go make sure Joseph and Toby live. Just in case one of the Larxenes decides…"

"Go," Axel urged. "I'm gonna try and get back to my own universe now. I've had my fun."

The other Axel saluted.

"If you can, light a Larxene's cloak on fire for me."

"I will if I can make it look like an accident."

"I think you're the king of making things look like accidents. Provided you're anything like me," Axel replied, saluting back.

The other Axel nodded and formed a dark corridor.

Axel pulled out his star shard.

"Wait until I tell the others."

He pulled his hood back up and activated the star shard. Per his intention, he arrived in the Grey Area just in time to see Joseph and Toby pull the chandelier—right down on S's head. Axel snorted and activated the star shard once more to arrive in his own universe. It worked, for he found himself standing right behind Kairi, who was re-bandaging Sora's hand. Yup. Right place.


	9. (CE/DI) Well, that depends, did you just call me a--

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shad gets interrupted while using Sora to mess with Riku by a few things, chief among them the arrival of a certain Memory Witch. Something of a sequel to the scene that happened back in chapter 4. If you enjoyed Shad and Magik's Namine having a row the first time around, well, there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy the sequel.
> 
> This happens same time [chapter 106 of Dead Inside](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10978008/chapters/26434800) does, for the record.

“Well, we’re off to hunt Nobodies,” Sora said, linking arms with Roxas. 

“Have fun!” Xion told them, giving a little wave.

“Where will you go?” Riku asked.

“Well, we’re going to start in the Underworld,” Sora said.  “Since Kairi said Hades has got some control over the Dusks.  Maybe we can get rid of the ones that listen to him.”

“Either way, we’re going to kill Nobodies,” Roxas said.  “Best way to make Final Form stronger.”

Sora nodded. 

“Be careful,” Kairi said.  She turned to Roxas.  “Make sure he Cures.”

Roxas laughed.  “Like I would let him die out there!”

Kairi rolled her eyes.

Before Sora could take any more patronizing, he activated the star shard.  He and Roxas both disappeared.

“Will you two be doing something?” Namine asked, looking at Kairi and Namine.

“We were thinking about going to Twilight Town to just practice,” Xion said.  “Heartless are generally easy kills there, but if something bigger shows up, we could use a challenge.  Kairi’s got a new spell, I’ve been working on a new finisher…”

“Do you want to come?” Kairi asked.  “You’ve got Holy to practice, too.”

Namine shrugged.  “I don’t know…”

Riku leaned in to whisper in Namine’s ear.

“How about you and I go somewhere and practice,” he said.  “Just you and me.  We haven’t done anything together like that in a few days.”

Namine grinned.  “How about we do that?” she said, looking up at him. The two of them locked eyes, neither of them looking away from each other.

Kairi and Xion rolled their eyes. 

“You two have fun, now,” Xion said.

Riku and Namine just nodded, still looking in the general direction of each other.

Kairi activated the star shard between her and Xion, they disappeared like Sora and Riku had.  The Island was quiet.

“Now, where’s Axel,” Riku said, looking over his shoulder.  “It would be just like him to show up and ruin the moment.”

Namine laughed.  “He went chasing after Kuin again.  Well, I think so.  The image I drew this morning showed them in Traverse Town, but the picture I drew after that had just Kuin in Disney Castle.  I feel like that one may be farther in the future, because I don’t think Kuin has any reason to go to Disney Castle.”

Riku shrugged.  “I’d like to meet this Kuin girl.”

“Wouldn’t we all?” Namine said.

“Well, where should we go?” Riku asked.  “To change the subject.”

Namine shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

Riku poked her in the arm.  “You mean to tell me that you haven’t drawn us already doing something today?”

She shook her head.  “It doesn’t work like that.”

Riku laughed.  “You’ll have to tell me how that does work, sometime.”

She nodded.  “Okay.”

He didn’t press for her to tell him right then, she didn’t feel like explaining it.  Not yet, anyway.  She still had to figure out exactly how it worked for herself.  It just… did.

“Hmm,” Riku said, pondering.  “Hollow Bastion typically has a lot of Heartless.”

Namine nodded.

“Aerith, Rinoa and Quistis are away on that meeting,” he continued.  “So they’re down three fighters.”

Namine nodded once more.  “Are you suggesting we go to Hollow Bastion?” she said.

“Sure, why not?” Riku said.  “You’ve got that spell to practice, anyway.”

He flashed her a grin.  She smiled back.

He pulled out the star shard.  “Ready?”

She grabbed his hand.  “Of course!”

He looked down at their now-intertwined hands and couldn’t help but smile.  His cheeks flushed red just a tad. 

“Let’s go,” she whispered.

He activated the star shard.

 

“Something’s not right,” Riku muttered as soon as they had landed.  He sniffed the air, trying to figure out  _what_ exactly it was that wasn’t right.

Namine started probing the area as well.  She had a general clue of what memories she should be able to pick up.  Just, familiar memories, things that she recognized—people that she recognized. 

She was oddly surprised to pick up on some of  _Aerith’s_ memories.  To the best of her knowledge, Aerith should not have been there.  Not in the slightest.  However, these didn’t look like the memories of the Aerith she knew. These ones definitely had the Aerith-feel, but they were more frantic, somehow. 

There were a lot of things breaking. Glasses, dishes, a lonely chair in the corner… (she’d seen that chair before)… blood and rain… (she’d seen those too…)

Almost frantically, she pushed out further, trying to see if she could pick up any other tell-tale memories.  She had a feeling she knew where she was.  But why were…

Leon.  Easy enough. However, he wasn’t calm or happy like…  He was  _angry_.  Something had  _bothered_ him. 

Rinoa, trapped up in a glass case… a possessed Rinoa… a dead-looking Rinoa… whiteness…

She hadn’t seen any of those before.  This was new.  She pushed again, trying to find someone else.  She had a pretty good idea of where…

Tifa.  She was sad.  She was worried.  She was angry. 

Two images: one of Cloud lying almost-lifeless-looking on the ground at Olympus Coliseum, a mangle of darkness hovering above him; (she knew what that darkness was, she just couldn’t focus on it…) the second one of Cloud crumpled on the ground, covered in about as much blood as Sephiroth hovered above him…

Namine pushed just a tad farther…

Shatter.

Shatter.

Shatter.

 _Her_ shattering  _him._ But it was in third person…

 _Him_ being shattered by  _her._

 _Someone else_ watching  _him_ being…

Shatter.

Metallic-like sounds.

Crumple.

Tears.

Like a broken record… she was caught up in those images.

“Found it!” Riku growled, breaking her out of her thoughts.

The next thing she knew, they were hurdling down the streets.  Up walls and through pathways.  It was all she could do to not trip and keep up.  But the memories were still there in her head.

Shatter.

Shatter.

Shatter.           

A promise.

Sora’s Shadow.

Parallel universe.

Shatter.

“That bas—” she began.

“…you still have feelings for that bi—”

“What is going on here?” Riku demanded.

“Dammit, Cid, why’d you have to go and break my concentration?” Sora’s Shadow muttered, angrily, completely ignoring them. “I was on a roll there! A _roll!_ ” He made a couple incomprehensible noises, clenching his hands into fists. “Damn you…” he said, and _then_ rounded on them. “No, actually, it’s _you_ I should be mad at! I would’ve been _fine,_ if it had only been Cid, I could’ve _recovered._ But, no, you had to go and screw everything up!” He groaned. “Not like it really matters _whose_ fault it was, I’ve _completely_ lost control of Sora now!”

He glanced between the two of them a few times, noticing the rather _pissed_ look on the Memory Witch’s face. Plus, she was radiating a lot of anger, too. It really was a good thing that she wasn’t incredibly bright.

As in, full of light, that is.

Riku, the other Riku, the- Sora’s Shadow frowned at him for a second. He’d eventually get confused if he only called him Riku or some small variation of it. He took a second to pick “Riku’s” memories, hoping to find some embarrassing nickname or something. He found something shortly, though it wasn’t embarrassing…

Real Thing.

He’d have to stick with it, because he didn’t have enough time to find something else.

So, the Memory Witch looked rather pissed, and Real Thing looked confused and angry. He wasn’t entirely sure if the anger was directly caused by him, or if it was merely a side-effect of the confusion.

Why was it that every Riku had such complex emotions?

He grimaced, then, realizing something else.

“You, uh, didn’t happen to hear all of that, did you?” he asked.

“That _depends_ ,” the Memory Witch spat. “Did you just call me a—”

He laughed. “Well, _that_ depends. Did you just call me a—”

Real Thing summoned his blade, obviously not wanting to bother with the banter. “Take that back!” he shouted.

Sora’s Shadow raised his eyebrows. “Well, _that_ explains a lot,” he mused. “And here I was thinking it was just him…” He turned to the Memory Witch. “How many guys is that that you have—”

“Take. That. Back,” Real Thing repeated. His voice had almost a growl to it.

Sora’s Shadow frowned, then swallowed the rest of what he was going to say to the Memory Witch. He didn’t really like the look she was giving him, plus, if he kept going he would probably make her really upset, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with Real Thing afterwards.

He returned his attention to Real Thing, and shrugged lazily.

“Make me,” he dared.

Real Thing looked a bit taken aback by that, but his anger quickly overrode it.

Sora’s Shadow laughed.

“Oh wait! You _can’t!_ ” He grinned.

Real Thing growled. Legitimately growled.

Sora’s Shadow raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay! I take it back, sheesh.” He rolled his eyes. It’s not like it _really_ mattered. “Isn’t worth getting my head chopped off for anyway,” he muttered, then smirked. “Might want to watch your darkness though, Real Thing.”

Real Thing blinked a few times in shock.

“What?” he asked. “Where’d you hear that?”

Sora’s Shadow grinned and tapped his head. “I’m just like her,” he said, nodding at the Memory Witch. “I can read your memories. Or, well, _most_ of them.” He shrugged. “It’s definitely _a lot_ of them.”

Real Thing’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“He can only see dark memories,” the Memory Witch explained to him. She might have said more after that, but Sora’s Shadow stopped listening. Something else had caught his attention.

“Wait! Shh!” he commanded, holding up a finger to silence them. “Shh just a sec!”

“Why should—”

“Shh!”

He concentrated on listening, glad that Sora hadn’t cut off connection with him. He wouldn’t have wanted to miss this. “Is he… crying?” he said, slowly, uncertainly. He listened harder. Sure enough, it _sounded_ like Riku was crying. “Did I make him cry!?” He laughed, then, feeling rather accomplished. “I made him cry!”

“Made who cry?” Real Thing asked.

“Your Replica…” the Memory Witch mumbled.

Real Thing made a face that was something between confusion and shock.

“He’s… crying?”

Sora’s Shadow laughed. “I know! So unlike you, isn’t it, Real Thing?”

Real Thing growled.

“What did you do to him!?” the Memory Witch demanded. Sora’s Shadow laughed slightly, as she was throwing a _lot_ of anger at him. Pity she was from another universe and her anger didn’t affect him…

“Whoa, whoa,” he said, holding up his hands. “Calm down there, Witch!”

“Take _that_ back, too!” Real Thing said. There was a rather ‘no-nonsense’ tone to his voice, but Sora’s Shadow ignored him.

“Remember what I said _last_ time about you being the reason he’s so messed up?” he asked the Memory Witch, and then laughed. “Yeah, it’s about ten times worse than I originally thought it was.” He grinned.

They glared at him.

He ignored them.

He wanted the Memory Witch to _feel_ how much she had hurt Riku. She already had a vague idea of it, but if she truly _knew_ —

He pulled a bit of darkness towards him, prepared to use it. Then he noticed the look Real Thing was giving him. He frowned.

_Great, he can smell darkness, can’t he?_

_Dammit._

_There goes THAT idea…_

He let go of the darkness, and then smirked.

_Whatever, I don’t need the darkness. I can do enough damage with words alone._

“Because of what _you_ did to him,” he said, acting as if he had never paused in the rant. “He now holds the world at an arms-length, not caring about anyone only because he doesn’t think they care about him.” He chuckled slightly. “Because he’s so used to being an _afterthought_.”

The Memory Witch might have winced at that.

He chose to believe she did, just because it made him feel better.

“And he’s come to expect nothing more from the world,” he continued. “So whenever anything more _is_ given to him—” He laughed. “He can’t handle it. He can’t handle being _loved_!”

The look on her face was priceless, and the guilt he was getting from her was even better. Real Thing looked pretty pissed now, but he was too busy enjoying her pain to notice.

“And it’s all _your_ fault,” he said, grinning. “You screwed him up! Not just because of what you did to him mentally, with his memories and everything, but because of what you did to him emotionally—”

“Cut it out!” Real Thing shouted.

Sora’s Shadow pushed back all possible shock he had towards that and instead laughed, knowing it only make him even _more_ pissed. It really was a shame they were from a different universe…

“My, my,” he said, throwing a look at the Memory Witch. “Doesn’t _that_ sound familiar?” He turned back to Real Thing. “Though, why do _you_ care? From the sounds of things, you didn’t—” He slowly stopped, realizing something.

He might be restricted to only seeing dark memories, and only picking up thoughts when they were strong enough, but he could feel _anyone’s_ emotions, no problem.

And right now, he could feel a rather surprising emotion coming from Real Thing.

Love.

Real Thing loved the Memory Witch.

Or at least, that’s Sora’s Shadow assumed.

“Well then!” he laughed, and then turned to the Memory Witch. “Looks like you had _another_ boy fall for you. What’d you do to this one?”

“ _She_ didn’t do anything!” Real Thing snapped. “I love her of my own free will!”

Sora’s Shadow raised his eyebrows. “Ain’t that a shocker?” he said, and grinned. “I wonder what your Replica would do if he knew. Oh wait, I don’t need to wonder! I know _exactly_ what he’d do!”

“What would he do?” Real Thing asked.

“Oh, he’d be absolutely pissed for starters. Then he might try to kill you.” He looked over at the Memory Witch, who was grimacing at the thought. “See? Even she knows it!”

“He’s changed,” she said, firmly, but her firmness quickly fell into uncertainty. She didn’t actually _know_ whether or not he was any different than he had been all that time ago. She certainly seemed to _hope_ that he was.

“Well, let’s find out,” Sora’s Shadow said. He thought about what he was going to say for a second. “Hmm… Real Thing loves the Memory Witch,” he muttered, his voice slowly gaining the sing-song tone he had used earlier. He grinned. “Real Thing loves the Memory Witch.” He repeated, much firmer.

Satisfied, he clenched his hand into a fist, calling to the darkness inside of Sora. It reacted typically, rearing up, ready to be—

It was pulled away from him.

 _“Cut it out!”_ Sora yelled.

His Shadow flexed his fingers, a tad shocked. “Damn, Sora!” he exclaimed, amazed and yet terribly annoyed. “When did you figure out how to fight back!?”

“How’s that working out for you?” the Memory Witch asked, sounding rather amused now. Real Thing snorted.

“Oh, you be quiet!” he muttered.

 _“I’m tired of you doing this to me!”_ Sora said, before he could say anything more to the Memory Witch and Real Thing. “ _It was annoying when it was Cloud, it was just plain MEAN_ _to Aerith, you were downright RUDE to Tifa, and I don’t even KNOW how I feel about what you did to Leon. Now you’ve made Riku cry. Riku! CRY! I’m not going to let you get away with this anymore!_ ”

He rolled his eyes.

“Oh please! You weren’t even aware I was doing it!”

“ _Well, I’m aware of it now, and I’m not letting you do it again!_ ”

Oh of course.

 _Of course_ Sora had to go and get determined right when he _really_ wanted to use him. He swore and pounded his fist against the ground in annoyance. “‘I’m not letting you get away with it again,’” he repeated in an extremely mocking tone. Sora only returned it with annoyance.

The Memory Witch laughed. He glared at her.

“What?”

“You do realize that we can only hear half of this conversation, right?” she replied.

“Sounds like Sora’s not being cooperative, though,” Real Thing said. He was smirking.

Sora’s Shadow didn’t like it.

“It’s none of _your_ business,” he spat. “And if me talking to Sora out loud bothers you, then suck it up!”

 _“Are you… talking to someone?”_ Sora asked, confused as always.

“No, I’m talking to myself,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Of course I’m talking to someone, idiot! Can’t you hear them? I can hear everyone on _your_ end!”

Sora started to reply, but he didn’t give him the chance.

“Listen, Sora, could you do me a—”

“ _No._ ”

He made a face.

“I just need you to tell Riku—”

“ _Haven’t you bothered Riku enough?_ ” Sora interrupted, and he got the sense that he was glaring. Plus, he could feel a lot of annoyance building up inside of Sora.

Maybe just enough to—

A very sharp pain shot through his head, and he swore, before angrily turning to the Memory Witch. She had quite the glare on her face and a rather large amount of anger burning in her.

“Stop it!” she warned. “I’m sure he’s upset enough already, we don’t have to—”

“Could you _stop!?_ ” he hissed through clench teeth, trying to avoid clutching his head. It hurt so much that he could hardly see straight, let alone even _think_ properly. To make things worse, the pain doubled as Sora caught drift of it.

“Will you leave this Riku—” she began.

“No, seriously! You’re hurting Sora!” he gasped, frantically.

The pain stopped immediately. He had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from sighing in relief.

“You weren’t just lying to make her stop, were you?” Real Thing asked.

He angrily shook his head, though he regretted doing so afterwards. It hurt. “No! I mean it!” he said, bitterly. “I mean, seriously, they’re all crowding around Sora right now to make sure he’s okay. Aerith’s worried, Yuffie’s confused, no surprise, Riku’s not paying attention, which is lucky for you, and Tifa- Dammit!” He pounded his fist against the ground again. It actually kind of hurt this time. “She just told Sora to cut off connection with me, and he listened.” He clenched his hands into fists. “One of these days, Tifa, you are going to _regret_ getting in my way…” he muttered.

“What was that you said… about Riku…?” the Memory Witch asked, slowly. She sounded a bit… worried? Nervous? He couldn’t tell. “He isn’t… upset about that, is he?”

He shrugged, laughed, and stretched out casually. “Hell if I know! Without Sora as a conduit for my power, I can’t read what Riku’s thinking without giving myself a headache. Guess you’re out of luck! Besides,” he chuckled. “Do you think I’m going to answer that honestly?”

“He has a point,” Real Thing muttered.

The Memory Witch glared. After a second, he could feel her poking around in his brain. He grimaced, and then waved his hand as if swatting her away (like it would do him any good).

“Don’t waste your energy,” he told her. “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying…” she said, slowly.

He glared, and then threw up a couple of mental blocks.

“Okay, fine, it might have come up in our conversation,” he admitted. “But he was too busy screaming at me to give me a straight—”

“‘How can you not hate her’ is exactly what you said,” the Memory Witch spat. “You _do_ know!”

“Okay, so I do know, shoot me!” he replied, throwing his hands up in the air. “But just because he doesn’t hate you doesn’t mean he’s not upset! And, anyway, it was more fun to let you wallow in your anguish and uncertainty, with anger and desperation burning in your heart—” He paused, then smiled; darkly, knowingly. “Desperation is fear,” he said, slowly, turning to Real Thing. “Ain’t it, Real Thing?”

Real Thing looked like he was going to ask how he knew, but then decided against it.

“No, don’t change the subject!” the Memory Witch said, her glare deepening. “I want to know—”

“Oh shut up,” he told her. “I’ve had my fun messing with you. Let’s mess with Real Thing, now!”

“Let’s not…” Real Thing muttered.

Sora’s Shadow laughed. “Like you have a choice in the matter!” He threw up _another_ wall to keep the Memory Witch out of his head, and then started poking around in Real Thing’s memories. The subject of Ansem (who had told him that desperation was fear) was still fresh in his mind, and there were plenty memories around concerning him.

And, it didn’t take much poking before Sora’s Shadow found something juicy.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, slightly shocked. Only slightly, though, the rest of was just for show. “Now that’s new! I didn’t know you were _possessed_ at one point! Riku apparently didn’t care about- well, he didn’t care about you at all, so—”

“Glad he doesn’t still hate me…” Real Thing said, not fazed.

“Back to you being possessed-”

“It’s none of your business,” Real Thing interrupted.

“See, now _there_ is where you are wrong,” Sora’s Shadow said, smiling a truly dark smile. “Anything and everything concerning the darkness _is_ my business. I _make_ it my business.”

He poked around some more, though he didn’t have to go digging far. The thought of being possessed by Ansem was quickly followed by falling into darkness, and the time Real Thing had spent completely submerged in darkness, all thanks to—

Sora’s Shadow frowned, concentrating. He could see her face. He just needed a name…

“Who is that…?” he whispered. She appeared to be a sorceress of sorts, apparently had control over the Heartless. (He scoffed at that thought. No typical being could _truly_ control the Heartless.) The sorceress-lady also _sounded_ extremely evil, and seemed a bit full of herself.

He decided he didn’t like her.

“Maleficent,” he said, slowly, and Real Thing cringed slightly. He raised his eyebrows at that, and then continued digging.

There were plenty of memories concerning Maleficent, and the more he saw, the less he liked. He was glad that she was dead in this universe.

Wasn’t she?

He grimaced.

He didn’t honestly know.

“I’m getting sidetracked!” he said, mainly to himself. “Back to the subject of Ansem!”

He came across a memory immediately, as if it was waiting for him. He could see Real Thing, floating in darkness.

“ _I see you now… clearly…_ ” a voice said, and Sora’s Shadow grimaced.

He knew that voice…

“ _Lexaeus!?_ ” Real Thing demanded.

A couple quick images flashed by. A man in a black cloak, who Sora’s Shadow assumed was Lexaeus. A fierce battle. Real Thing leaping to attack. Real Thing being knocked back. Darkness.

“ _Riku… I can see your heart…_ ” the voice continued, its tone making Sora’s Shadow want to squirm.

He refrained.

“ _No… it’s not…_ ” Real Thing said, slowly. “ _Darkness this foul could only… only be—_ ”

_“That’s it, remember me… let me drift into your heart…”_

_“Ansem!”_

Ansem laughed.

Sora’s Shadow actually _did_ squirm, now, and he quickly pulled out of Real Thing’s head. “That- that laugh,” he said, cringing. “Oh- Ah- arg! You did that- you did that on purpose, didn’t you!?”

Real Thing smirked.

“Well, there’s one thing we can agree on,” Sora’s Shadow said, rubbing his ear, as if it would help get the sound of Ansem’s laugh out of his head. “Ansem is a _creeper_.” He shuddered. “I _told_ Sora to stay away from him, but he wouldn’t listen to me!”

“I doubt you make a very good voice of reason,” Real Thing muttered.

“ _Ventus_ listened to me,” he argued, then he laughed. “Actually, I think I scared him off. He _did_ have a panic attack when he saw me. Apparently I reminded him of someone…”

“Who?” the Memory Witch asked, and she sounded generally intrigued.

“Good question,” Sora’s Shadow replied, and then frowned. He couldn’t remember. Well, he _could_ remember a couple of images, most of which consisted of someone who looked similar to him. However, he couldn’t remember what said someone’s name was. “What’s his name?” he groaned, more annoyed at himself for forgetting it than anything else. “I mean, seriously, you’d _think_ I’d be able to remember it, given how steeped in darkness the thought was, but _no!_ I can’t remember it at all!” He sighed.

“You know we don’t actually care, right?” Real Thing said.

“I was slightly curious,” the Memory Witch muttered. “But, really, it doesn’t—”

“I’m curious!” Sora’s Shadow snapped. “I don’t _typically_ forget things! Though… his name _was_ a bit odd… Latin or something… What was it?” He refrained from groaning again. “I wonder how strong the connection between me and Ventus is… maybe I can raid his thoughts and figure it out…”

He closed his eyes, concentrating. Since Ventus was still kind of connected to Sora, it was easier to make the connection with him than it was with most people. Now, all he had to do was—

He gasped in pain, clutching his head and quickly withdrawing. “ _Bright_!” he spat, loathingly. “I always forget how damn _bright_ he is!”

“Having problems?” the Memory Witch laughed.

He glared at her. “Establishing a connection across worlds is enough of a strain already, Witch,” he said, and then rubbed his head again. “But since Ventus is so _damn bright_ and gives me a headache, establishing a connection with him is pretty much impossible! It’d be different if he was standing right there or something.” He gestured to an area nearby. “Maybe what’s-her-face is around,” he muttered. “I might be able pick up enough darkness from her to stay in Ventus’s head long enough to—”

“What’s-her-face?” Real Thing laughed.

Sora’s Shadow glared.

“As you can see, I’m apparently no good with names,” he said, bitterly. “And it’s not like _I’ve_ ever met her, and neither has Sora, and I’m pretty sure we’ve already established that Ven is too damn bright for me to pick up anything from. Now…” He trailed off, then frowned.

Sora “cutting off” connection with him hadn’t worked as well as Sora would’ve probably liked it to. He was starting to get a dribble of what was going on. Admittedly, it was only a dribble, but…

The point was.

With Sora functioning as a conduit for his power again, he could hear a couple of Riku’s thoughts. The thoughts weren’t very _clear_ thoughts, but he blamed that on the fact that Sora was kind of trying to block him out (even if he wasn’t doing terribly well at it). However, what he _could_ make out was rather amusing.

Because, from the sounds of it, Riku was still rather upset about what he had said earlier concerning the Memory Witch.

 _Damn, that boy’s devoted!_ he thought with a laugh. _Wonder what would happen if she knew- no. That’s not what I want…_

The Memory Witch frowned.

“What’s  _that_  look for?” she asked, slowly.

“Huh?” He hadn’t realized he had been staring. “Oh, well, I’m debating on whether or not I can touch you,” he replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the Worlds. “Because I think it would be absolutely hilarious if Riku found out that you were here, and nothing can _really_  stop me from physically dragging you to him.”

“I could,” Real Thing said.

“You’re not on the same plane of existence as me,” Sora’s Shadow replied.

“And Namine is?”

“I’m hoping…”

The Memory Witch started poking around in his head again.

He sighed.

“ _Must_  you?”

He threw up a few more mental blocks to keep her away from a few memories that he _didn’t_ want her to see, focused a bit on recalling some that it would be amusing for her to stumble upon, and then started poking around in  _her_  head, just to see how  _she_  liked it.

She glared.

He went ahead and glared back.

Then she poked at a memory that he didn’t want her seeing. Now he  _really_  glared, and quickly threw up _more_  mental blocks around it.

Mental blocks which she then proceeded to, well,  _shatter._

“Hey!” he shouted, throwing up some more. “Stay away from that, Witch!”

“You can stop calling her that, now!” Real Thing spat.

“It’s better than the alternative,” the Memory Witch told him, her voice quiet and maybe a bit strained.

Sora’s Shadow might have laughed if he wasn’t too busy trying to keep her away from the blasted memory. He wished she’d leave it alone, though, since he was trying to keep her away from it, she probably _really_  wanted to figure out what it was.

Great.

He grimaced, then pulled at one of her memories at random, hoping it would be painful enough that she would stop.

It wasn’t.  She didn’t even seem fazed by it.

He growled.  He figured that anything involving Larxene would have been good enough.  Guess not.  New tactic. 

“Cut it  _out!_ ” he screamed.

He was starting to get images from the memory now, which could only mean she was _succeeding_. He could see Kairi sleeping. Kairi screaming. The tears—

“What is going on?” Real Thing asked.

The Memory Witch paused her mental assault for a second. Sora’s Shadow only barely held back a sigh of relief. He quickly composed himself.

He wasn’t going to cry.

Not now.

Not  _ever._

“Sorry, talking out loud takes more energy than this…” the Memory Witch said, slowly. “And I can read his every memory if I poke enough.”

“Bi- I mean, Witch! I can only get your dark ones, not fair!”

She scoffed. “ _That’s_  not fair? What about lashing out at Sora across the face? What about _using_ Sora to make the Riku Replica cry? How are _those_ things fair!?”

He glared. “I don’t play fair.”

“And neither do I.”

She started poking the memory again.

“OI!” he shouted, jumping to his feet. “Touch that memory  _one more time_  and someone is going to get hurt! You  _saw_  what happens when I get conflicted. I’m sure you don’t want that same blind rage lashing out in _your_  direction!”

“You won’t let yourself lose control like that again,” she countered.

He glared.

“Doesn’t mean I want you touching that memory,” he said, voice cold. “And that doesn’t mean I can’t find _other_  ways to hurt you. You have a hell of a lot of dark memories inside of you, Witch. I don’t have to specialize in memory manipulation to be able to use them against you.” He slowly smiled, then, as he  _finally_  stumbled across a good memory.

“I mean, I’d suggest hurting Real Thing,” he said, casually, the anger fading from his voice. “But I’d rather _not_  have my heart brutally shattered and my body left discarded here like some forgotten toy.”

Real Thing’s eyes widened in shock.

The Memory Witch screamed.

Legitimately screamed.

Sora’s Shadow smirked.

She launched herself at him, looking about ready to strangle him. He braced himself for the impact, and prepared to teleport away as soon as she made contact with him. What a _wonderful_ time that would be to appear in Aerith’s house!

Pity, though, she didn’t actually make contact with him.

She ended up passing through him, instead. And it felt  _extremely_  weird. The weirdness, however, was drowned out by the flood of memories. He slowly sunk to his knees, clutching his head.

He really hated pain…

And the memories were, of course, only dark ones. Therefore, they were pretty painful.

Or, enough of them were, anyway.

Plus, to top it all off, the two memories on top involved her poking at people’s memories, causing them pain.  She  _knew_ it hurt them.  And he thought  _he_ was bad…

 _C’mon, pull yourself together!_  he scolded himself.  _You need to be the one to get up first! Show that stupid little witch that you’re better than—_

He paused, taking a second to focus on one of the memories.

He recognized this one…

“Oh, hello,” he said, and then grinned. “ _That’s_  a lot of information! I mean, I was getting the most frantic thoughts from Riku earlier, but now that _you’re_ here, the picture’s complete!”

The Memory Witch turned around and glared at him. Real Thing rushed over to her, and then helped her to her feet. He might have asked if she was okay, but Sora’s Shadow had tuned them out. He knew where they’re minds would be for the next bit, and he’d rather not be intruding on it.

Not because he was being polite or anything.

But because he didn’t feel like  _puking._

“I wonder if I can affect him from here,” he muttered, mainly to himself. He should’ve known that they were listening to him, but he didn’t notice. “I want him to relive that memory. I want him to collapse into a pile of tears on the floor! I want him to—”

The sound of a blade being summoned caught his attention. He turned, and, no surprise, found Real Thing’s blade aimed at his throat. Surprisingly, though, Real Thing wielded a Keyblade. He wasn’t sure which was more surprising; the fact Real Thing wielded, or the fact that he _just noticed._

“Leave my Replica alone,” Real Thing said, firmly.

Sora’s Shadow snorted.

“Please! What do  _you_  care?”

“I know that  _this_  is supposed to be his second chance at life, and I think he deserves something relatively _happy_. And I’m pretty sure that that’s not going to happen if he keeps being bothered by his past.”

“All he does is  _ignore_  his past,” Sora’s Shadow said, rolling his eyes. “Like  _that_  does him any good.”

“And you poking at his memories doesn’t do him any good, either,” Real Thing retorted.

Sora’s Shadow made a face. “You know, I don’t think he’s going to be too happy about the fact you’re—” He paused, and then turned to the Heartless that just appeared beside him. “Oh, shoo!” he said, waving it away. “I’m in the middle of—”

He stopped. He could feel more Heartless appearing around them, and then all over Hollow Bastion.

Which meant…

He swore, then looked up at Real Thing and the Memory Witch.

“You need to  _go_!” he said, quickly.

Real Thing frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but the Memory Witch beat him to it.

“Why should we listen to you?” she asked.

He pointed over at Aerith’s house, which they weren’t  _too_  far away from. It was a fairly _large_ distance away, but they could still see it.

Which meant they could also see Riku throw himself out the door and start killing Heartless. And, very vaguely, they could hear his shouts of frustration, though it was impossible to make out any distinct words.

If he was even shouting any…

“ _That’s_  why,” Sora’s Shadow said. “Don’t tell me you  _want_  to be on the same battlefield as him!”

“I thought you  _wanted_ him to know we were here,” Real Thing said, slowly, seeming a tad confused.

“Well that was  _earlier_  when he was just being angsty,” Sora’s Shadow replied. “Now he’s pissed. You don’t mess with Riku when he’s pissed. That ends with a blade through your gut. I’d rather  _not_  die, here! Besides, he  _can’t_  kill me! It would  _severely_  damage the balance of this universe! I  _have_  to be killed by Sora!” He frowned. “Or… someone closely connected to Sora. I bet Kairi could kill me. I mean, I doubt she  _would,_  but I bet she—”

“What does us being here have anything to do with this?” the Memory Witch demanded.

Sora’s Shadow pointed at Riku again. “He’s going to see you,” he said, slowly, as if to make his point _absolutely_  clear. “When he sees  _you,_  he sees  _me._ And it probably won’t be good if he sees me with you. Plus, the fact that the two of you are here,  _together_  isn’t going to go down well, either.”

The Real Thing and the Memory Witch exchanged semi-skeptical glances. 

“I thought you were on a different plane of existence,” the Memory Witch said argumentatively.  “You can’t touch us and we can’t touch you.”

Sora’s Shadow groaned.  “Not the point! You stupid people! Can’t you just—”

He paused, listening.

“Shit.”

Sora had convinced Aerith and Tifa that would be a  _good_ idea to let him help fight the Heartless.  Aerith had naturally been skeptical.  Tifa, however, had been able to see the benefits of constructive Heartless slaughter.  (Well, she hadn’t said slaughter, but that’s what Sora’s Shadow interpreted it as.)  In the end, Aerith had conceded, possibly because the caffeine was wearing off.

Before the Real Thing or the Memory Witch could ask him any more stupid questions on the matter, Sora came bursting out of Aerith’s front door much like Riku had done moments before.  By that point, the Real Thing and the Memory Witch were too busy focusing on the giant bandages across Sora’s face.  The Memory Witch’s face scrunched all up in concentration.

“Hey!” Sora’s Shadow shouted, forgetting for a moment that he was trying to get them to leave.  “You leave his memories alone! Those are mine to mess with.”

The Real Thing responded to that by shoving his blade dangerously close to Sora’s Shadow’s neck.  Not that it would have done anything, but the point was still clear as crystal.

“And you can leave hers alone,” he said, his voice no longer angry, just scary dark.  The Real Thing turned to the Memory Witch and started talking about how they should leave.

Sora’s Shadow didn’t listen.  He didn’t care.  He was too busy noticing the fact that his throat hurt just a little.  It was as if the Real Thing had wanted to hurt him so badly that it actually worked a little.  He had so much darkness inside of him! If only there was a way to just _mess_ with it a little…

But it was too late, they had gone.  And, come to think of it, he should leave too.  Before Sora noticed.

So he did.


	10. (DI - ch116) In which Kairi takes a moment to tell Aerith something important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written sometime in 2017. It happens immediately between ch116 and 117 of Dead Inside, and, well, is exactly what it says on the tin. I can't say it's amazingly special, but I wrote it, so I might as well share, haha.

“Riku’s awake!” Kairi called, stopping just far enough down the stairs to see into the front room. She waited, leaning over the railing a bit. Joseph leapt to his feet, but Aerith told him to stay put. After a bit of clamoring and whining from Joseph—which Kairi only watched, seeing no need to participate in—only Aerith and Leon made their way for the stairs, Leon picking up the medkit from where it had been left on the coffee table.

“It’ll be a little easier if we don’t have anyone hovering…” Aerith began, as they reached the top of the stairs.

Kairi scowled, but she’d kind of been expecting it. “Yeah, yeah,” she said. She wouldn’t argue, but that didn’t mean she was _happy_ about it. “But, more importantly.” She grabbed Aerith and pulled her aside.

Stepping to the side was unfortunately necessary, since Riku’s room was literally the first you encountered once up the stairs. Kairi wasn’t even totally sure this was going to be enough, with the way this house was laid out, upstairs being mostly hallway when it wasn’t rooms. She found herself wishing for something like the loft she had at her house. _Anywhere_ that wasn’t right outside Riku’s room would be a blessing, in order to discuss this.

But there wasn’t a loft, so Kairi just had to pull Aerith a little ways down the hall.

“What is it?” Aerith asked, concerned.

Kairi chewed her lip a moment, trying to decide how to phrase it. She’d hoped she’d have come up with that before they got this far. It was important, though. It was why she’d come to get Aerith herself, rather than send Namine to get her.

“I just… now that he’s awake, there’s something you need to know,” Kairi said. “When he first arrived, he was pretty badly beat up, so me ‘n Sora took him to a healer. There was something the healer did—and I don’t _think_ it was anything weird!—that made Riku...”

She had to stop there, for just a second. It was hard to put into words what had happened. The way Riku’d panicked, acted like they were trying to hurt him. The way he didn’t seem to realize where he was for a few minutes.

“I dunno,” she said, finally. “Made him kinda panic.”

It didn’t seem like enough, but it was all she was sure how to say.

Aerith and Leon exchanged glances, both wide eyed for a second. When they turned back to her, their faces were identical, stern.

“Panic?” Aerith asked.

Kairi nodded.

“Yeah…” she answered. “Maybe it’s something to do with being touched?” Kairi’d always wondered about that, except he was always fine around her and Sora, and Namine, so… “Or maybe he just didn’t realize what was going on.” He’d been real out of it the first week in general. And he hadn’t had any memories. Kairi wasn’t totally comfortable bringing _that_ bit up though.

“He… _was_ antsy when I healed him last time,” Aerith said, slowly. “But I figured with everything else going on…”

Kairi shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said again. “Maybe it was just that one time. But.” She looked at them very seriously. “He nearly broke Sora’s arm.”

Aerith inhaled, sharp but slow. Leon turned away, running a hand through his hair. He looked uneasy. Aerith looked worried.

“I just wanted you guys to know,” Kairi told them. “Just in case. So you’d be prepared.”

“We’ll be careful,” Aerith assured her. “But thanks for telling us.”

“Uh-huh.”


	11. A Date With Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn Zack's fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the chapter that made me tag this "chose not to use archive warnings" because... this one absolutely slots under **Major Character Death** but it's just this chapter, so it felt kind of weird to tag the whole story with that? Anyway, tosses that warning up for this chapter, and, let's move on.
> 
> quick reminder also that I futzed a lot with the timeline re: HB gang and FtPverse, so if you want the full deets on how that pans out (other than simple a "RG didn't fall until everyone was in their early twenties") [check out the timeline here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jmiy3hcvbtlr8SZNIDo1WK_SLo39SQ43nVyQbJig_f0/edit), featuring a ton of cool notes about things that happened but I'll probably never have time to actually write.

They were walking through the streets of Radiant Garden. It was early evening, and it looked as if a storm was moving in (making it much darker than it usually would’ve been at this time of day). On the left was a tall young man with long spiky black hair who walked with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. On the right was a boy in his late teens, who was a few inches shorter but had even spikier blond hair that fell into his eyes.

“Hey Cloud, it’s getting pretty late, huh?” the young man with black hair asked, turning to his friend.

The blond haired boy, Cloud, shrugged. “I guess…”

“Maybe we should crash at Aerith’s tonight, before we keep going.”

At this, Cloud smiled. “You just want to see Aerith, don’t you Zack?” he teased.

The black haired man, Zack, just grinned. “Maybe,” he laughed.

Cloud rolled his eyes, and Zack just continued to grin.

“Whatever you want to do,” Cloud said finally.

“Alright then!” Zack turned abruptly and started in a different direction. “To Aerith’s!”

Cloud sighed and followed after him. It wasn’t often they were in Radiant Garden, so he couldn’t complain that Zack wanted to see Aerith every time that they were here. He and Aerith _were_ sort of dating. Sort of, only because Zack traveled frequently due to his job (as a mercenary) and so they didn’t see each other often. Zack did, however, make sure to spend as much time with Aerith as he possibly could when he was in town.

Thus making trips to Radiant Garden a tad boring for Cloud.

“I wonder if anyone else will be there tonight,” Zack said. “I almost hope so. I’ve been craving some of Cid’s soup for a while now…”

Cloud smiled slightly at the fact Zack had said “almost”. Even though Zack would’ve enjoyed the company of everyone else if they were there, and would’ve eaten more than four bowls of Cid’s soup, it was obvious that also wouldn’t mind spending time alone with Aerith.

_Jealous?_

He frowned and actually paused for a second, wondering where the heck _that_ thought had come from. He quickly caught up to Zack, glad that Zack was too busy talking to notice that he had stopped.

 _Of what?_ he asked himself, trying to remain as calm as possible despite the feeling of something stirring in his heart.

_Them?_

_It’s just hard to avoid feeling like a third wheel around the two of them, and if there’s anything I don’t want right now, it’s to be a third wheel._

There was too much bitterness in the thought.

And the something stirring in his heart was growing steadily stronger.

Knowing exactly what it was, he desperately fought it back, not wanting to deal with it right now.

Pity the pain it caused made it hard to concentrate…

He slowly sunk to his knees as his vision blurred and clutched his chest as the darkness raged through his heart. It was crushing him, making it hard to breathe, hard to think, impossible to concentrate on holding it back—

“Hey Cloud, what’s taking you so long?” Zack laughed, finally realizing that Cloud wasn’t next to him anymore. “Did you get lost or-” He paused as he turned and saw the state that Cloud was in. “Cloud!?” he shouted, rushing over.

“Won’t… give…” Cloud said through clenched teeth. “Won’t… _let it_ …”

“Hang in there, buddy,” Zack said, grabbing Cloud by the shoulders. “The darkness is no match for you! You can fight it.”

Zack glanced up, slowly, scanning the area with his eyes while not trying to draw attention to himself. He had known Cloud for years now, and the only time when Cloud’s darkness lashed out like _this_ , it was when someone was interfering.

But who?

And, more importantly, where were they hiding?

Cloud shuddered all over. “Zack-” he gasped. “Please- I can’t-”

“Just keep fighting it Cloud,” Zack said, rising to his feet. He scanned the area again, but still found no one. He slowly drew his sword – a rather large sword, that, despite its size, Zack wielded with ease.

“Alright then!” he called. “Where are you?”

No answer.

Zack shifted his stance slightly, scanning the area again.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing to my friend!” he continued. “And don’t think that I’m not willing to fight you if that’s what it takes to get you to stop!”

Silence for a moment.

Then—

“Is that so?” Someone asked. Their voice was cold, and yet there was laughter behind it. Obviously, they found this whole situation funny.

Zack turned. His eyes widened in shock for a second before falling into a glare.

“Xehanort…”

He had spent most of his job as a mercenary fixing the problems and fighting off the monsters that Xehanort sent ravaging throughout the Worlds. He had only seen Xehanort himself once or twice, but there were countless stories about him. None of them put him in a good light.

Zack took a breath or two to calm himself so that he could concentrate.

 _Looks like I’ll have one of those stories to tell after this,_ he thought, gripping his sword tighter.

“I’d rather not fight you,” Xehanort said, calmly, his eyes not once leaving Cloud.

“And I’d rather avoid--”

Cloud screamed.

Zack winced.

“That,” he finished, casting a worried glance at Cloud. He shook his head and returned his attention to Xehanort. “I’ll warn you one last time. Leave Cloud alone!”

Xehanort only smiled.

Zack rushed forward to swing at Xehanort. Xehanort simply took a step back and out of the way, though it was hardly necessary. Something pierced Zack in the back, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees. He clenched his teeth and drew a sharp breath in, trying to avoid crying out in pain. He wasn’t going to break that easy.

“Well look who we have here,” a new voice said.

Zack dragged himself to his feet and turned to see who was speaking. No surprise, he found a man with an eye-patch and scar on his cheek, Xehanort’s right hand man: Braig.

“The famous mercenary Zack,” Braig continued, casually reloading his guns as he made his way over. “I’ve always wanted to fight you. Looks like now’s my chance.”

“Tough luck,” Zack said calmly. “My fight’s with him.” He nodded at Xehanort.

Braig shrugged. “And my fight’s with anyone who messes with him while he’s working.” He aimed his guns.

Zack quickly brought up his sword to block the bullets that were sent his way. Hoping to make this quick, he rushed forward to attack Braig.

Braig simply teleported out of the way.

“Hey! No fair!”

A couple of bullets hit him in the shoulder, and Zack turned to block the next few bullets that came his way. Braig had to pause to reload. Zack, knowing he didn’t have enough time to make it over to him and land a blow, sent a blast of Firaga in Braig’s direction. It looked like it hit.

Zack quickly glanced at his shoulder and examined the damage. The bullets were missing – obviously some sort of magic bullets that would fade – but the wounds they left behind didn’t look pretty. His shoulder was quite a bloody mess, and it hurt, too.

He quickly cast Cure, which seemed to heal up most of the mess.

It still hurt a bit, though.

He looked up just in time to dodge out of the way of a few more bullets. He prepared to try and attack Braig again when Cloud let out another cry of pain.

Zack turned and was pleased to find that Xehanort had his back to him. He rushed forward and struck—

Only to have Xehanort somehow dodge out of the way. Zack made to strike again, but Xehanort summoned his own blade two him, blocking Zack’s attack with ease. Zack grunted and shifted slightly, putting more force on his sword.

“Cloud!” he called over his shoulder. “How you doing?”

Cloud made some sort of noise as a response, but Zack had absolutely no clue what it meant.

“Do you think you can- agh!” Something wrenched at Zack’s heart, cutting his sentence short and knocking him off balance. Xehanort smirked. Zack only just managed to bring up his sword in time to block Xehanort’s blade. A long chain of strikes and blocks and counters followed as Zack defended himself. He considered trying to land a hit on Xehanort, but he was spending so much time blocking—

It was hard to concentrate, though. Any moment now Xehanort would break through his defenses, and—

Xehanort struck, and Zack didn’t manage to block in time. He stumbled slightly, gasping in pain, and quickly backed away. He clutched his chest, felt blood and a torn shirt. He didn’t dare actually look at the wound. He kept his eyes firmly on Xehanort.

But… where was Braig?

 _There’s two of them, but that’s no big deal,_ Zack told himself, casting a stronger Cure on himself. The pain lessened significantly, but not entirely. The wound must’ve been more serious than he thought. _I’ve been out numbered worse than this and still come out just fine._

_However, there’s Cloud to consider this time around…_

_He’s in no shape to help me out._

_And-_

“You know, I seriously underestimated you,” Zack said, readying his sword again. “I thought all the things I’ve heard about you were just tall tales, but it looks like they’re true.”

Xehanort didn’t bother with a response.

Hearing the bullets coming his way, Zack quickly turned to block them. He braced himself for the blow that Xehanort was bound to deal, but it didn’t come. Xehanort had apparently turned his attention back to Cloud.

 _Xehanort’s a lot stronger than I expected him to be,_ Zack thought.

_It’s going to take a lot of effort to keep distracting him._

_Especially with Braig shooting at me the moment I have Xehanort distracted…_

He angrily threw a Thundara at Xehanort, and then another Firaga in Braig’s direction.

_I need to get Cloud out of here._

_So I just… pick him up and run and hope that they don’t try too hard to stop me?_

It was the best alternative to fighting that he had. Well… it was really the only one.

He looked between Xehanort and Braig, and then bolted over to Cloud. “C’mon,” he muttered, picking Cloud up and throwing him over his shoulder. He started towards the nearest exit out of the area.

He could hear Xehanort yelling at Braig behind him, and then Braig started yelling at him. Zack ignored Braig’s shouts, and then the bullets when they came. He kept moving.

More shouting. More bullets.

Cloud groaned.

More bullets.

Then something cold hit him in the back – probably some form of Blizzard magic. It didn’t seem to have done much.

Zack kept moving.

Even more bullets.

They were nearly there.

This would be easier if Cloud would stop squirming.

Then Zack was hit with lightning – some strong form of Thunder magic, most likely a Thundaga, and given the way it burned it was probably Dark Thundaga. Zack fell, dropping Cloud as he did so.

He gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to fade.

It didn’t.

He pushed himself up with some difficulty and quickly located Cloud. Cloud seemed to be in pain, too, but it actually looked like less pain than he had been in earlier.

“Cloud, run,” he hissed.

Cloud stared at him.

“Get out of here! I’ll keep them busy.”

“Zack-”

“ _Go!_ ”

Cloud nodded, scrambled to his feet, ran, stumbled, and then collapsed. After a second, he pushed himself back up and just started dragging himself along the ground, not wanting to risk running again.

Zack cast another Cure on himself. He felt a rush of energy surge through him, restoring his strength, but the pain didn’t lessen at all. He ignored that and pulled himself to his feet, also ignoring his aching muscles as they cried out in protest.

 _Just the Dark Thundaga,_ he told himself. _Fight through it. It’ll wear off eventually._

He looked between Xehanort and Braig, debating which one he should attack fist. Xehanort was the more deadly foe; however, Braig was the one that was harder to catch. And, really, it was Xehanort he needed to be distracting so that Cloud could get away.

He ran at Xehanort and struck. Xehanort blocked, but Zack managed to land a hit with his next attack. Xehanort retaliated with a long chain of attacks that Zack did his best to block. He was doing fairly well, only to have a bullet hit him in the back and break his concentration. His sword lowered slightly, allowing room for Xehanort to deal a rather nasty blow.

Despite the amount of pain he was in right now, Zack dealt an equally nasty blow to Xehanort in return.

Xehanort didn’t look fazed.

Zack backed up and tried another Cure, though it seemed to do even less than the last one had. He reached into his pockets for a hi-potion, but he was showered with bullets before he even had the chance.

“Would you _quit that!?_ ” he shouted, rushing at Braig.

“Uh-oh!” Braig said, teleporting away again.

Zack spun around, spotted Braig again, and threw a Blizaga at him. While Braig was reeling, he ran over and quickly landed a couple of blows. Braig teleported away again and started firing more bullets. Zack did his best do avoid them all and headed towards Xehanort again.

Xehanort dodged out of the way of Zack’s first attack. Zack threw a Thundara at him in hopes to at least stagger him a bit, which seemed to work. He attacked with his sword, managing to land quite a few blows before Xehanort threw him back. He skidded across the ground.

Zack lay there a second, and then focused his energy into casting Curaga. His vision blurred, and he quickly dropped the spell. He didn’t have enough energy for much more magic. He pushed himself up and reached into his pockets for an elixir.

He found three potions.

_Dangit! I didn’t restock earlier!!_

He grimaced and pulled a potion out, figuring he could at least ward off the pain with it until this fight was over.

 _Maybe I should go back to dragging Cloud out of here,_ he thought, raising the potion to his mouth.

It shattered in his hand.

He glared over at Braig, who was grinning. He waited out a round or two of bullets, and then downed a potion while Braig was reloading.

Zack blocked the next round of bullets that came his way, and was glad to see that most of them actually bounced back and stunned Braig. He ran at Braig and attacked. Braig only took a few hits before quickly teleporting away. When he appeared again, he looked rather disgruntled.

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” he called over at Xehanort.

Xehanort replied with something that Zack couldn’t quite hear.

“If you don’t want to fight, you could always leave,” Zack suggested.

Braig laughed. “As if!”

Zack shrugged, deflected the next round of bullets that were sent his way, and attacked Xehanort while Braig was stunned. He actually managed to land two hits this time, instead of just the usual one. The flurry of strikes that Xehanort responded with was much more fierce this time, though. Zack blocked frantically, though he knew that any second now Xehanort would break through his defenses just like always. Hearing Braig let off a round of bullets, Zack quickly cast Reflect, which thankfully protected him both from the bullets and Xehanort’s attack, though the latter sent him skidding backwards a few feet.

He shook his head, hoping to clear his blurring vision. He had thought that he would’ve been okay to cast a simpler spell like that, but apparently not. He cast a glance over in Cloud’s direction, making sure that Cloud was still dragging himself away. He was.

Zack took a breath then ran at Xehanort again. Xehanort blocked his first attack, per usual, but the second one hit. Zack blocked the first of Xehanort’s strikes, slipped, and didn’t manage to block the second. Before Xehanort could strike again, he rolled out of the way. He quickly brought up his sword to block Xehanort’s next attack, and then rolled again, dodging a torrent of bullets as he did so. Zack hurried to his feet, staggered slightly, and then shouted:

“Stop!! Everybody stop!!”

He glanced between Xehanort and Braig. Xehanort didn’t look happy. Braig looked amused. Zack lowered his sword.

“Why are we fighting?”

“You’re in my way,” Xehanort replied coldly.

“Of what?” Zack asked. “Messing with Cloud? What do you need Cloud for?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business!” Braig called.

“Of course it is! He’s my friend! Besides, what if I wanted to make a bargain with you?”

“You look more like a fighter than a negotiator,” Braig laughed.

Zack grimaced. There really was no denying that. But, there was no harm trying.

“What if you take me, instead, and let Cloud go?”

Xehanort glared. “Touching offer, but I have no use for you.” He summoned a ball of darkness to him and chucked it at Zack. Zack quickly brought up his sword, and blocked the brunt of it, but it still ended up knocking him off his feet and sending him to the ground.

Given the way his head was throbbing, he must’ve hit pretty hard.

Zack kept his eyes shut, waiting until the pain died down some.

He slowly turned his head to the side, opening his eyes, and was surprised to find Cloud next to him.

“Hey Cloud?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have any potions, do you?”

Cloud shook his head.

“Ethers?”

Again, Cloud shook his head.

Zack made a face. “You didn’t restock, either?”

“We didn’t stop in the market.”

“We didn’t?”

Cloud shook his head yet again. “You were too eager to see Aerith.”

“Of course I was.” Zack sighed. “Right, next time we stop here, or anywhere, make sure that our first stop is a market, got it?”

“Got it.”

Zack let out a long breath.

“You know what we’re going to do, Cloud?” he asked.

“What?”

“I’m going to get up and distract them. You know what you’re going to do?”

“Run?”

“You think you can do that?”

“Yeah.”

“Then run. I’ll be behind you.”

Cloud nodded.

Zack took another deep breath and then leapt to his feet, sword bared. He rushed forward, Landing a good two blows on Xehanort before he backed away. Quite a few bullets hit him, but he did his best to ignore them. He only had to buy Cloud a bit more time—

Cloud suddenly screamed. Zack turned just in time to see him fall to the ground. He looked a bit bloody; he had probably been hit with a couple bullets to prevent him from running.

“Cloud!” Zack quickly dug his last potion out of his pocket. He prepared to toss it to Cloud, but Cloud stopped him.

“Don’t, you need that more than I do!”

Zack frowned, but went ahead and drank the potion now before Braig started shooting again. The throbbing in his head stopped immediately. He took a few more breaths to prepare himself to fight again.

A raindrop hit him.

“Oh sure, it starts raining _now_ ,” Braig said, casting a glare up at the sky.

Zack laughed slightly.

_“Is that what I think it is?”_

_Aerith ran over to the window and pressed her nose to the glass, watching the rain as it poured from the sky. After a moment she threw the door open and ran outside._

Zack shook the memory from his head, telling himself to focus. Focusing became a lot easier after a bullet or two hit him. He quickly brought up his sword to block the rest of the bullets that came his way.

“How you doing, Cloud?” he called.

“Alright!”

He didn’t have to look at Cloud to know that Cloud wasn’t actually alright. However—

“Do you think you can run?”

“I- ah!” Whatever Cloud had planned to say was stifled by a cry of pain. Zack threw a glance his direction, then turned to Xehanort. Xehanort’s attention was fixed firmly on Cloud.

“Leave him alone!!” Zack screamed, throwing himself in front of Cloud. Xehanort glared, and whatever amusement he had had before was gone. His eyes were completely cold, his expression entirely cruel.

“Stay _out_ of this!!”

Something wrenched in Zack’s heart again, blurring first his vision then his thoughts.

_“Are you crazy?” he laughed, watching her as she danced and spun around like a child in the rain._

_She paused and turned to look at him, grinning. “I love the rain!!” she exclaimed, and twirled once. “It’s so… happy! Like... like all my troubles are being washed away!” She laughed and grabbed him by the hands, forcing him to spin with her—_

Pain brought him back into focus. He couldn’t tell what he had been hit by; all he knew was that it hurt a lot. He was on his knees, and knew for certain that he shouldn’t stay there long. He took a few breaths to calm himself before pushing himself up, slipping slightly because of the wet ground.

“Cloud?” It came out as more of a cough than a yell. Zack grimaced, tasting blood.

 _Damn…_ he thought.

_Out of potions, nearly out of magic—_

“Can we get out of here, Cloud?”

“I’m… _trying_ —Zack!”

_I really should just go back to picking him up and running._

_If I can even pick him up…_

_Or run…_

He gathered up his strength and tried to cast Cure. The spell caught half-way through, so Zack abandoned it and cast Fira in Braig’s direction instead. The spell and a lot of his energy left him, and he sunk to his knees. His thoughts were blurring again.

_“Don’t you love the rain?” Aerith asked._

_He shrugged._

_“Sure, I guess.”_

_She made a face, not looking like she believed him one bit. “Zack…” she said, slowly._

_He just shrugged again. “What?”_

_She sighed and shook her head. Before she could do anything else, he twirled her around. She laughed in shock, and then stumbled, falling against his chest. He held her there, and kissed the top of her head._

_“I love you,” he whispered. “And so if you love the rain, I guess I do, too.”_

One bullet hit him.

“ _Oh Zack…_ ”

Another bullet hit him.

“ _Aren’t we going to get drenched if we stay out here much longer?_ ”

Another bullet.

“ _It hasn’t even really started raining yet!_ ”

Cloud screamed, though it was less in pain and more in alarm. Zack turned to find Cloud frozen; paralyzed. He turned to Xehanort immediately, and found that Xehanort had his hand outstretched, like he was holding Cloud there by some invisible force.

“Cut it out!!” Zack shouted, stumbling to his feet. He struck Xehanort on the arm, breaking whatever hold he had on Cloud. Zack grinned slightly, and prepared himself for the flurry of strikes Xehanort was about to send his way.

They didn’t come.

Instead, Xehanort retaliated with a dark attack that sent Zack flying.

Zack cried out in pain.

And then—

Silence.

Cloud looked up, wondering why the fighting had stopped.

His eyes widened in horror at the scene before him. “Zack!!” he cried, hands gripping the hilt of his own sword. He stumbled to his feet, still not having quite caught his breath yet, and charged at Xehanort, sword ready to strike.

Xehanort blocked him and knocked him aside with ease.

“Too weak,” he scoffed. He turned to Braig and sighed. “This wasn’t worth it after all. Let’s go.”

“What about him?” Braig asked, nodding over at Zack.

Xehanort looked at Zack, who had yet to move, and shrugged. “Do whatever you like with him,” he said with a wave of his hand, before walking off.

Braig laughed, reloading his guns and making his way over to Zack. He aimed his gun, grinned, and then fired.

Zack screamed.

“No!!” Cloud staggered to his feet again and picked up his blade. Braig was already gone. Cloud scanned the area frantically, but it wasn’t any use.

“Aw man!” Zack groaned. “What lousy luck! I never expected _this_ to happen!”

“Cure!” Cloud said, directing the spell in Zack’s direction. His wounds glowed with the magic for a moment, before it died down. It didn’t appear to have done any good. Cloud grimaced.

Then he smiled as he got an idea. He started off at a dead run—

“Cloud,” Zack called.

He stopped, turning back to Zack. “Just hang in there, I’ll go get Aerith! She’ll be able to—”

“Cloud, don’t-” Zack coughed. “Don’t bother. It’s too far. I… I don’t think I’m going to last _that_ long.”

There were traces of a smile on his face, and a hint of laughter in his voice.

Cloud stared. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Zack say that? Even if there wasn’t enough time for Aerith to heal him, surely he’d want to see her. Or—

He gasped slightly, finally taking notice of the finer details of the scene that lay before him. Zack was not only lying on the ground, too weak to move, but his breath seemed to be coming short to him. He was covered – _drenched_ , really – in blood, and a large pool of blood was forming beneath him. The pool of blood was mixed with darkness; a side effect of one of Xehanort’s attacks.

Cloud swallowed.

There really _wasn’t_ enough time.

“It could’ve been worse!” Zack said, trying to laugh, not that he managed more than coughing. “I could’ve… fallen off a cliff, or… had something hit me in the head, or- or been eaten by sharks. I- At least… at least I went out fighting.”

Cloud couldn’t help but smile, though something inside of him was screaming in denial, not wanting this to be happening—

He slowly made his way to Zack’s side and knelt down.

Zack was grinning.

“Here, Cloud,” he gasped. He lifted up his sword and forced the hilt into Cloud’s hands. “Take it.”

“What?” Cloud asked, confused. “Why?”

“It’s too good a sword to waste!” Zack replied, his grin widening. “Besides, I saw that look you were giving it the other day. You wanted one just like this.”

“Zack- I... I couldn’t-”

“Sure you can!” Zack laughed, before Cloud had the chance to finish. “Not like I’m going to need it now!”

“But Zack, I-”

Zack wouldn’t hear it.

“Cloud, you’re being ridiculous!” he said, his grin falling into annoyance. “Just take the sword!”

Cloud sighed, and took the hilt of the sword.

Zack smiled. “That wasn’t too hard-” he coughed “Now- now was it?” He coughed again, and then let out a long raspy breath.

Cloud squeezed his eyes shut. The denial in him wanted desperately to break out—

_This couldn’t be happening._

“I- I always wanted to become a hero, you know that, Cloud?” Zack whispered.

Cloud opened his eyes, smiled sadly at Zack, and nodded. He’d heard this many times before. But he let Zack continue. He wasn’t going to stop him, not if it was going to be the last time he ever heard Zack say it.

That thought hurt to think about.

“Yeah…” Zack sighed. “That was my… greatest dream.” He was struggling to get the words out. “I dreamt- dreamt to be a-” He coughed. “A hero.”

A raindrop hit him in the eye.

He shuddered.

“You- you think I’m a hero… Cloud?”

“Of course, Zack.” Cloud swallowed. “I think you’re the greatest hero ever.”

Zack grinned.

“That’s- that’s good…” he whispered, and slowly closed his eyes.

Cloud grimaced and turned away. This was it. Zack was—

“Oh!” Zack exclaimed suddenly, opening his eyes wide in shock. “I can’t believe I forgot! Can you do me a favor? Tell Aerith… that I’m sorry, and that I love her.”

“Sure thing,” Cloud replied.

“Thanks,” Zack breathed, closing his eyes again.

There was a smile on his face.

Cloud slowly rose to his feet, struggling to lift Zack’s sword. He glanced down at Zack, and then started off, slowly. He felt… numb. Zack was—

Zack was gone.

And how would he explain to—

“Zack!?” Aerith called, rather suddenly, breaking his thought process. She sounded absolutely horrified. Cloud turned to her, and swallowed a time or two.

How was he going to explain this to Aerith?

He didn’t even have a chance to open his mouth. She was already rushing to Zack’s side, kneeling down next to him, not seeming to care one bit about the blood.

“Aerith…” Cloud began, slowly, his voice quiet. “I-I’m sorry. He’s--”

“Aerith?” Zack asked, his voice a bit choked. He struggled slightly to open his eyes, and then, despite his injuries, despite the position he was currently in, he broke into a grin. “Aerith!” he exclaimed, laughing with his excitement. “I- I didn’t think I was going to get to s-see you!”

She did her best to smile back at him, and then placed her hands on his chest.

“Cure,” she breathed.

The magic flowed from her fingertips to his wounds, and his wounds glowed slightly with the energy. The spell didn’t do much, though. The wounds were festering with darkness, and the darkness was canceling her magic out. She grimaced upon noticing this.

“Cure,” she said again, focusing her energy, wishing the darkness gone. Some if it actually listened to her, but a lot remained. And what remained canceled the Cure out again.

“No,” she gasped, voice catching. “No!” frantic now, she commanded: “Cure!”

Again, it took no effect.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to come.

“Aerith,” Zack whispered. “Don’t- don’t bother, it’s-”

She didn’t listen.

“Cure!” she cried again, though it came out more like a strangled sob.

“Aerith,” Zack said again, calmly. “It’s too late. Don’t worry… about it.”

“N-no!” she gasped. “It _can’t_ be too late! I can’t let you-”

Zack reached out and pulled her close to him, so that her head was resting on his chest. He held her there for a moment, before he lost the strength to support his arm and it fell limply back to his side.

“Zack, please!” Aerith sobbed. “I- I don’t want you to-”

He laughed, though it came out rather strangled and turned into a fit of coughing.

“I went out fighting!” he told her when the coughing died down. His voice was proud, and he was grinning. “Like a true hero!”

“Oh Zack…” Aerith laughed, though her heart wasn’t really into it. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. “You will… you’ll always be my hero…” she whispered.

His breath was starting to get shallow now, his second wind having run its course, his body ready to give up. Very, very slowly, he closed his eyes. There was still a smile on his face; a smile that slowly became a grin.

“I love you,” he breathed.

“I love you, too,” she replied shakily. “I love you… more than- more than anything.”

He didn’t say any more.

She stayed there, having lost the will to move, wanting to hang onto him, not willing to let him go. So she didn’t move, left her arms around him, left her head resting on his chest. And ever so slowly, though it seemed like it was happening far too fast for her, the life faded from him.

She felt his heart stop beating, felt the gentle rise and fall of his chest come to a halt as he breathed his last.

And after of stunned silence and not wanting to accept the truth just yet, even though she wouldn’t be able to ignore it much longer, she screamed.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

She screamed into the open air.

Cloud winced and turned away.

He could hear, in her scream, every ounce of pain and sorrow that she was feeling right now.

He could hear, reflected in her scream, every ounce of pain that he was feeling.

And, finally, her scream broke off into sobs.

 _This is… my fault…_ Cloud thought slowly.

_None of this would’ve happened if I had never gotten involved in the darkness…_

_Xehanort wouldn’t have come after me, and—_

_Zack…_

_Aerith…_

_I’m sorry…_


	12. A Date With Fate (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Squall deals with the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in 2015, which is actually only 3 years after the previous chapter but, a lot about someone's writing style can change in 3 years. Anyway while I am mostly uploading ASAS chapters in the order they were initially uploaded, it felt weird to split these two chapters up. It's the same scene. You deserve to be able to read it all at once.
> 
> Also the layout of the house is a little different pre-RG's fall so [here's a basic blueprint for reference.](http://rarmaster.tumblr.com/post/131831056555/lmao-ok-heres-a-real-real-basic-look-at-aeriths)

Squall wasn’t big on believing in feelings, those hunches that came to you out of nowhere, because that was Aerith’s thing, not his. But there was no denying that something was wrong tonight. He realized it as he was putting dishes away (a simple task, since there were only two of them in this house now), hand raised to open the cabinet and put a glass away. A sudden shiver down his spine, a sudden pit in his gut. He stood still for a moment, cabinet partially open, glass half raised to it, running through his head where Aerith was.

She was on an emergency grocery run, unfortunate this time of night, but if they wanted something besides dinner leftovers for breakfast, a necessity. It was pretty late at night, but Radiant Garden was a decent town, and she could handle whatever trouble came at her, if there was any. Squall stood still a moment more, then went back to his task. He wasn’t going to chase after her on a simple bad feeling. Now, if she wasn’t back in the next twenty or so minutes, that was another story…

After putting the dishes away, he sat down in the big chair in the front room, picking his book up from the table beside it. He wasn’t much in the mood to read, but he wanted to be sitting and doing something seemingly casual when Aerith walked through the front door, so he wouldn’t look silly for freaking out over a bad feeling when everything was really fine. He thought about Rinoa for a minute, wondering if the feeling had anything to do with her, but his mind fixed so firmly on Aerith… Squall shook the thought out of his head and looked at the clock. Ten more minutes.

He was just sighing and getting to his feet when there was a knock on the door. A knock. Aerith wouldn’t knock, she’d just let herself in. Unless… she was having trouble with the groceries? Heart in his throat, Squall moved to open the door.

“C-Cloud…!” he said, a little surprised.

And then he saw Aerith.

There was horror in her eyes and tears streaming down at her cheeks, hands clutching her stomach as if she might puke. She was covered in blood. Trembling.

Squall pushed past Cloud and pulled her into the house, sitting her down in the chair he’d just gotten out of. She was soaking wet, too. It was raining outside. He’d have to get her something to dry off, but that could wait a few seconds. “Are you alright?” he asked her. “Are you hurt?” He knew she was not, because they would not have arrived like this if she was, but then what was the explanation for the blood?

“Not her blood,” Cloud answered, roughly, closing the door behind him.

Squall turned to scowl at him. “What do you mean it’s not her blood?” Whose was it, if not hers? He turned back to Aerith, putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her. She was breathing hard. “Aerith… What happened?” She just shook her head. Squall turned to Cloud again. “Cloud? Cloud tell me what the hell happened!”

“Z… Zack…” Cloud answered.

“ _Zack!?”_ Squall demanded. That made no sense!

But then he realized what Cloud was holding. Zack’s sword. Why was he holding that? He was covered in blood, too, and looked just as shaken up. Why was he here, without Zack? Why…?

“No…” Squall breathed, pulling his hand away from Aerith, staggering backwards. “ _NO!!”_ It wasn’t right. It wasn’t possible.

“I’m sorry…” Cloud whispered. He stared at the ground.

Squall reached for one of the table chairs behind him, pulling it out with a fumbling haste that nearly sent it to the floor, collapsing into it. The world seemed to be spinning. His ears were ringing. Zack…? _No…_ It wasn’t right.

“There- there was too much darkness,” Cloud kept explaining, his voice catching. “Too much darkness, and she didn’t get there soon enough… If she had—”

Aerith shook her head, though. “It- it wouldn’t have- have mattered,” she said, blubbering with her tears. “I’m not- I’m not as good as Mom was.”

“Don’t say that…” Squall said. It hard to look at her, so instead he leaned forward, cradling his head as he put it in his lap. Zack, dead? It was all wrong. Dinner had happened hours and hours ago, but his stomach still wanted to find every remnant that was left and toss it back out.

“If- if Mom was here—”

“DON’T SAY THAT!” Squall shouted. “It wouldn’t make a difference! She wouldn’t have gotten there fast enough either!!” He felt awful for shouting. He felt terrible. He was her brother, and he had no right shouting at her like that. Not now. His stomach really was going to empty itself, right here.

At the sound of Aerith’s sobs, he dragged himself out of his chair, went over to her, wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.” He pressed his face into her hair. Even that had blood in it! He didn’t think about that, though. Didn’t think about his stomach. He just held Aerith tighter, crawling into the chair with her, as she cried, as he cried. They’d used to share this chair when they were little, because it was the only sitting chair besides their mom’s rocker. It only kind of held both of them now.

A part of him wished it was then. When they were young and curled up next to each other in this chair, laughing at a story their mom was telling them. But more than anything, Squall wished Zack had walked through that door. That he’d walked in with that sword of his strapped to his back, carrying the groceries for Aerith, laughing at something she was saying. Memories rattled in his mind.

All eight of them, him and Aerith and their mom, with and Zack and Cloud and Tifa, and even Rinoa, for the night. Cid was handing out bowls of soup. Everyone was strewn about the front room, trading stories, laughing at jokes Squall couldn’t remember now.

Zack and Aerith, slow dancing in the front room to a tune on Zack’s lips, while Squall did his best to be as quiet as possible while he washed the dishes. (Aerith had been helping him before Zack pulled her away.) (He’d been a little mad at her.) (He was glad he hadn’t said anything to ruin their dance, though.)

This was all wrong.

Zack should still be here.

If he had the heart, or the voice, Squall’d ask Cloud what had even happened. The details. But he didn’t. He didn’t have the heart to move, either, but that he did. The sooner Aerith got cleaned up, the better, and he wasn’t going to dare tell her to move and take a shower. He grabbed a towel from the closet, then headed for the kitchen to get it wet. It was one of their nicer towels. He couldn’t bring himself to care.

“It- it was Xehanort…”

Squall looked up. Cloud was standing in the entrance to the kitchen. He was still dragging Zack’s sword behind him.

“Xehanort?” Squall asked. He didn’t understand what Cloud was trying to say. He let the sink run for much longer than he should have.

“That- that, y’know… Zack.” Cloud swallowed hard.

Squall stared, slowly nodding, as he turned off the sink. His brain felt thick with fog. Rumors about Xehanort had spread, on the lips of travelers, about what he’d done in other worlds. He’d seemed like a phantom, though. A story, even if Squall had kept his gunblade closer on hand, _just in case._ But now… Zack…

“Xehanort wanted me for something,” Cloud kept explaining. “But- But Zack wouldn’t have any of that, and so he—so we all… we fought… and then….”

Squall nodded again. Wrung excess water out of the towel. His ears were ringing again.

“I’m sorry…. It’s my fault…” Cloud mumbled. “If I had just…. if I had….”

He never finished.

Squall bit his tongue hard.

 _No… If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine…_ he thought to himself. _Should’ve listened to that feeling! Should’ve gone looking for Aerith! Maybe if we’d both been there. Maybe I could’ve…_

“S-Squall?” Cloud asked.

Squall looked up at him again.

“Zack’s…. I- I mean… he’s still…”

Squall dropped the towel.

“You- you _left_ him—!?”

Cloud flinched. “I- I mean, I…” He nodded, though. “Aerith- I had to get Aerith out of there, and I c-couldn’t deal with her and- and him and… and I just…”

Squall tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about Zack, still laying somewhere out—no, no he wouldn’t think about it. Cloud had probably done the smart thing, bringing Aerith here. “Go- go get—do you know where Cid lives?”

Cloud nodded.

“Go get Cid. Go tell him.”

Cloud nodded again. He didn’t move.

“Go!” Squall shouted. “Run! And- and you can leave the sword by the door…”

Cloud paused only long enough to do that, and then he was gone, leaving so quickly that he didn’t shut the door all the way behind him. Squall stared at it as it blew open, spattering rain into the doorway, and let out a long breath. Zack. Aerith. The towel…

He bent down to pick it up, hands trembling, then went to close the door. He’d have to mop up the rain water. Later. Right now, he pulled Aerith out of the chair, and helped her get cleaned off. She cried the whole time. Squall thought he might’ve, too.

This was all wrong.

 


	13. (BBS) Aqua's Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aqua faces Xehanort, and things go... a little differently than they did in canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all it's so weird to read my 2012 Aqua voice

“Terra!” she cried, rushing forward. A wall of darkness flared up, stopping her in her tracks. She took a step back and shielded her eyes. Her heart turned in her chest. She wasn’t going to make it at this rate…

And, sure enough, when she opened her eyes again, he was already gone.

Her stomach felt like it was in knots.

“No…” Aqua breathed, unwilling to believe it just quite yet.

Terra couldn’t be gone.

Sudden anger flared up within her, and she activated her armor. “No!” she screamed, boarding her Keyblade Glider. “You do _not_ get to take him from me!!”

She was lucky enough to come out in the right world.

Because there he was…

Terra—

No.

Xehanort, using Terra’s body.

He stood there, hands behind his back, a wicked smile on his face; like he had known this was going to happen.

“Such ferocity, burning in your heart,” he said, and to Aqua’s horror, he used Terra’s voice to say it. “You hate me, don’t you?”

She swallowed.

The answer was, of course, yes. She _did_ hate Xehanort.

But afraid of Terra, who had to be listening to this, thinking that she was talking about him—

She didn’t say anything.

“Afraid of answering?” Xehanort laughed.

“Give him back to me,” Aqua replied, fighting to keep her voice even. “Give him back or pay the price!!” Her voice rose to a shout and she drew her Keyblade, her hand shaking, fingers struggling to keep their grip.

“So you’re willing to fight for him?” Xehanort asked, sounding rather amused.

Aqua’s eyes narrowed, then she nodded.

“Even if you hurt him?”

Her entire body was shaking now, and she was beginning to think that it wasn’t anger that she was shaking with. Fear, maybe? Was she holding back sobs without even realizing it?

“I- I want him back…” she stuttered. She was extremely aware of just how lame and utterly stupid it sounded, but she couldn’t find anything else to say. Her brain was numb, and that was the only clear thought in her head.

She wanted him back.

She wasn’t going to let it be too late.

Xehanort smiled. “Of course,” he said, drawing his blade. (Thankfully, it was his own and not Terra’s). “And this is obviously the best way to get him back.”

He was mocking her.

She knew that.

But she didn’t care.

She rushed forward, a scream escaping her lips as she struck. He blocked her blade with ease. She screamed again: a scream of utter anguish, and again she struck and again she was blocked.

She felt like she was going to cry.

She couldn’t think straight enough to fight properly.

She couldn’t think straight at all.

“Terra… please!” she said, though it came out choked. “Please don’t give up! I- I need you.” She sunk to her knees, covering her face with the hand that wasn’t holding her Keyblade. She wasn’t going to cry. Not here; not in front of Xehanort.

She heard Xehanort take a step backwards. His Keyblade suddenly wasn’t blocking hers any more.

She had to get back up. Use whatever this silence Xehanort was regarding her with – it was probably amusement – to her advantage. Strike now.

But she couldn’t make her arm move to swing her Keyblade again.

“Aqua…?”

Terra.

That had to be Terra!

She looked up, shocked; overjoyed.

“Terra!” she exclaimed, her voice containing every ounce of her happiness. He could hear her! He could _fight_! They could get rid of Xehanort! They could—

Something pierced her in the side. It was a Keyblade. Xehanort’s—

She was an idiot.

Aqua quickly scrambled away from Xehanort, ignoring the pain that shot through her side with each movement. What had she been thinking? Of course that hadn’t been Terra. It was just Xehanort; using Terra’s voice to taunt her, just as he had been before.

“Heal,” she breathed, placing her hand over the wound. She felt it close under her fingers and the pain stopped immediately. She looked up at Xehanort. The smirk on his face most definitely did not belong to Terra – though it made her sick to realize that she had seen a similar smirk on his face a time or two before.

 _But this isn’t Terra,_ she told herself.

 _Terra would_ not _hurt me._

Shakily, Aqua pushed herself to her feet, gripping her Keyblade tight.

“Are you positive about fighting me?” Xehanort asked, that smirk on his face widening, laughter clearly present in his voice.

“Yes,” she replied. “Anything to get Terra back.”

Xehanort chuckled, darkly. “Then you’re wasting your time,” he told her. “Terra is long gone.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

 

She wasn’t sure how long they fought; she only knew that she was exhausted, and Xehanort’s hold on Terra didn’t appear to be weakening. Xehanort himself seemed pretty tired, though. They stood on separate ends of the area that had become their battlefield (which was scorched in some places by Fire magic and Darkness), both of them breathing heavily. Xehanort was clutching his side and leaning on his Keyblade for support. Aqua was only just keeping herself from doing the same.

 _How much longer can we go on like this?_ she wondered.

She knew for certain that she could not continue for much longer, even as she cast a Cure on herself to negate any injuries she’d sustained recently. It didn’t matter how many Cures she could cast; eventually she was going to run out of energy.

The same was true for Xehanort.

_I just need to get him to that breaking point – then he’ll be too tired to keep his hold on Terra’s heart._

The plan was simple. Now she only had to carry it out.

She started to prepare a large Fire spell, but paused. Using magic would only wear her out faster. She needed to outlast Xehanort, or she’d be of no use to Terra. Aqua let out an annoyed breath – magic would’ve made this faster – and then rushed forward to strike with her Keyblade, instead.

“Aqua, wait!”

Terra’s voice again.

Given that Xehanort had yet to use any voice but Terra’s, Aqua had half a mind not to listen.

But only half a mind.

She slowed herself to a halt, and glared at him skeptically.

He had not moved from where he stood; still clutching his side and leaning against his Keyblade for support. He looked up at her, slowly. Her heart seized in her chest. The look in his eyes was both panicked and worried: emotions she doubted Xehanort would ever express.

“You need to go!” Terra – she was almost certain it was him – said. His voice was not cruel, like when Xehanort used it. His voice was firm, but kind, just as he had always been towards her. “He’s going to kill you if you stay!”

“I’m not leaving without you, Terra,” she told him, simply.

Terra paused, turned away for a second.

“Then put an end to us both,” he said, voice quiet.

Her stomach churned. That was a request she could not answer. She had been fighting this whole time with her only intention being to save Terra. She had _not_ been fighting with the intent to kill. She’d merely been fighting in hopes to wear Xehanort down.

“I can’t, Terra,” her voice was only a whisper.

_Killing you is not an option._

“You know—ah!” Her words were cut short as Terra – no, _Xehanort_ – reached out and grabbed her by the neck. His grip was strong. If he wanted to, he could probably easily crush her neck and kill her then and there.

“Stop your useless prattling,” Xehanort said; and he used his own voice to say it. “I am tired of dealing with you.”

His grip on her throat tightened, and her vision blackened around the edges. Aqua slowly closed her eyes and focused on getting air into her lungs. She was vaguely aware of Xehanort straightening, and that her feet left the ground, but all that was _really_ clear in her head was that it was getting harder to breathe.

She didn’t want to die this way.

“Terra--” she gasped. “Please…”

_…don’t do this!_

But she didn’t have the air to say those words.

And it was growing harder to think…

_Terra…_

_…Ven…_

Xehanort suddenly let go of her. Sweet air filled her lungs as she fell—

And kept falling.

She should’ve hit the ground a long time ago.

Darkness enveloped her. She opened her eyes, but the only light she saw was a rapidly fading pinprick in the distance. Part of her knew that she should try and reach it, but her oxygen starved brain couldn’t make her body move towards it.

It was probably too far away, anyway…

 _“Sleep, child,”_ a voice whispered. It came from nowhere. It came from everywhere. _“Surrender yourself to the darkness.”_

 _To the darkness? Never!_ Aqua thought in defiance.

_But to sleep… maybe…_

_“Sleep, then,”_ the voice said. “ _Here, sleep is safety._ _Here, in the Realm of Darkness, sleep is everything._ ”

Aqua knew these were lies, but that didn’t stop exhaustion from taking her. Slowly, she shut her eyes…

 

She awoke with a start. When had she fallen asleep? When had she gotten here?

More importantly; where was here?

Aqua looked around. There was a crooked path beneath her, and nothing but darkness around her. How had she gotten here?

Images flooded her mind: _Terra, no, Xehanort in Terra’s body. He was smirking at her. Flashes of battle. Terra calling out to her. Xehanort choking her. Falling. Darkness._

She shook her head to clear it of those images.

She needed to get out of here. She needed to get back to Terra.

Aqua pushed herself to her feet and summoned her armor, then her Glider. Though these came to her just fine, no portal opened to take her from there. She frowned, then focused her energy, willing a portal to her. None came. Her frown deepening, she slowly got off her Glider and summoned her Keyblade to her. She pointed it in front of her, focused her energy again, and called a portal to form. Nothing.

She was stranded.

She banished her armor, then her Keyblade. What was she going to do?

Was there even anything she could do?

Slowly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wayfinder. Sadness surged through her as she looked at it; the wayfinders were meant to keep them together, and yet that was the exact opposite of where they were now.

Images of Ven flashed through her mind. She had left him sleeping, his heart torn from his body, with a promise to return and wake him. She had only wanted to find Terra first…

Terra—

The images came to her then were much worse.

_He was angry at her. He was hardly ever angry at her, and certainly never to THIS extent._

_He was threatening to fight her._

_He was yelling at her; telling her to leave him alone; that he was FINE._

_Xehanort had him. Xehanort was using him to taunt her. Xehanort was using him to fight her._

Xehanort had nearly killed her.

_“Aqua, run! He’ll kill you if you stay!”_

Had the words even been Terra’s?

She chose to believe so.

“Somehow,” she swore. “I will find a way out of here. I will find a way to wake you, Ven.” Her hand clenched around her wayfinder. “Somehow, Terra. I will find a way to bring you back.”

Resolve set, she started walking.


	14. (DI) Blizzard - Or, Aqua and Ven visit Neverland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua and Ven are doing Heartless cleanup in Neverland when Aqua feels a... tugging. (Companion to [ch134 of Dead Inside.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10978008/chapters/26531997))

They were in Neverland. There’d been a sudden influx in Heartless here, so they decided to come check it out and maybe bring the Heartless levels down to something more like normal.

“Is there any particular reason you’re using so much Blizzard magic?” Aqua asked, casting a glance over at Ven.

“Nope!” he replied.

Aqua highly doubted that this was the truth. Ven had been attacking with nothing _but_ Blizzard magic all day; he hadn’t even summoned his Keyblade! He was just killing Heartless by shooting varying levels of Blizzard at them.

Currently, Ven was focusing his energy into a large blast of what appeared to be Blizzaga. Once it had gathered enough strength, he sent it at the Heartless. It froze a few on the spot, and the ones it didn’t freeze it killed. He charged up the attack again, making it at least the sixth time he’d used it all battle. He’d certainly done it enough to launch Diamond Dust, though he hadn’t bothered to do that, either.

“I don’t believe you, Ven,” Aqua laughed, shooting a blast of Blizzara into the fray. She didn’t want to mess up whatever it was that Ven was doing with any Fire attacks.

“I’m practicing,” he said, voice a bit strained.

She tried to ask just what he was practicing—besides casting Blizzaga, of course—but that was all the answer she got out of him. She sighed and shook her head, attacking the nearest Heartless with Thundaga. Most of the Heartless they were fighting were capable of flight, so physical attacks weren’t always as effective. Though…

She turned and located one of the Heartless Ven had frozen and started attacking it. It couldn’t fly away from her, or do much else, so it wasn’t long before it was dead. She quickly located another one of the frozen Heartless, and started attacking that one. This method proved to be very effective: she’d let Ven freeze the Heartless with his Blizzard magic (it felt too strong for her to call it Blizzaga, anymore) and then attacked the frozen Heartless before they thawed out.

It wasn’t much longer before the Heartless in the area were gone. Aqua made her way over to Ven, who was rubbing his hands together, as if trying to warm them up.

“So, Ven,” she said, casually. “What exactly are you practicing?”

“I’m trying to figure out how to cast a strong enough Blizzard spell to freeze someone solid,” Ven replied. “I think what I’m casting right now will work, but it’s hard to tell when we’re fighting these small Heartless. It kills more of them than it freezes.”

Aqua frowned, a bit concerned. “Why would you want to—” she began, but paused.

Something was tugging at her.

It was a gentle tug; something nudging at her mind. It was… telling her she needed to go a certain direction. She slowly turned in that direction, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. So why did she need to head that way?

Why was there a sudden feeling in her heart that there was someone over there she desperately needed to be with?

“Aqua?” Ven said. She turned back to him, and gasped slightly in surprise.

She was a good distance away from him; she had taken a few steps in the direction that the nudge in her mind was telling her to go without even realizing it.

“Something wrong?” Ven asked, staring at her.

“I just…” She slowly turned around. “I feel like we need to head this way, for some reason.”

Thankfully, that was all the explanation Ven needed. He ran to catch up with her.

“Alright!” he said. “Let’s go!”

Aqua lead them off, using the nudge in her mind as a guide. So far, the path seemed relatively straight, and besides a few smaller Heartless (which Ven killed quickly with his Blizzard attack) there were no obstacles.

“Do you have any idea why we need to go this way?” Ven asked, rubbing his hands together again. A part of Aqua wondered if he was getting cold from all the Blizzard magic he was throwing, but the rest of her found it hard to focus on much else than the persistent nudge in her mind.

“I think… I think I’m supposed to meet someone,” Aqua replied, a bit distracted.

“Any idea who?”

Aqua shook her head. _That_ was something she didn’t know. But she was _positive_ that she needed to see them. For some reason.

“Do you think it’s Terra?” Ven’s voice was quiet as he spoke.

“I… don’t know,” was all Aqua could manage.

It couldn’t be. It really couldn’t… There was no way she’d find Terra _here_ of all places, and under such ridiculous circumstances! No need getting her hopes up. It most likely wasn’t him.

But…

With the way her heart pulled in her chest each time she gave _who_ she might be being lead to see any thought, it was hard to doubt that it was going to be Terra. There was something about the feel of the nudge in her mind… the feel of whatever magic this was. It felt… it _felt_ like Terra. It—

No. She wouldn’t get her hopes up.

She’d see whoever it was she needed to see, no matter _who_ it was. If it was Terra, then it was Terra—despite how absurd that would be. And if it wasn’t Terra—and it likely wasn’t—then what did it matter? She needed to see this person.

For some reason.

“Hey, Aqua?” Ven called from behind her. “You mind giving me a hand with this Heartless?”

She turned around, and instantly saw what Ven’s problem was. Though he’d killed all the little ones with hardly any trouble, this Heartless was fairly _large_. And flying, like every other Heartless here. She summoned her Keyblade and sent a blast of Firaga at the Heartless. Meeting whoever it was she needed to meet could wait.

Ven considered the Heartless for a moment, and then started focusing his energy into the large Blizzard spell he’d been practicing all day. Once it had formed, he released it on the Heartless. Aqua was surprised and Ven was absolutely ecstatic to see that it easily froze the Heartless solid.

“I knew it would work!” Ven laughed.

However, the Heartless didn’t stay frozen for long. It had started to plummet to the earth, as it was unable to move and thus unable to fly and keep itself aloft, but the ice thawed before it hit the ground. Ven sighed and summoned his Keyblade to him.

“I’ll keep working on it,” he said, launching himself at the Heartless before it flew much higher into the sky. It wasn’t long before he’d activated Diamond Dust.

Aqua shot two more blasts of Firaga at the Heartless in quick succession, sending herself into Firestorm. The Heartless flew out of reach before she could land any attacks on it, though.

“Fever Pitch would be handy right now…” Ven mused, before turning his attention to the smaller Heartless that had begun appearing. Between what was left of his Diamond Dust, and Aqua’s Firestorm, the smaller Heartless were gone very quickly.

 _Quick. Quick is good,_ Aqua thought, as the nudging in her mind became impatient. It wanted to know why she was wasting her time _here_ when she needed to be elsewhere.

“Ven!” she called. “Do you think you could freeze the Heartless again? Get it so it’s closer to us?”

“I’ll end up going into Diamond Dust again!” he replied, frowning. “I wanted to shoot for Fever Pitch!”

“Alright.”

 _It’ll just take longer…_ she thought, but didn’t say anything. The nudge in her mind was growing distracting, trying to get her to move away from here.

She shot a blast of Thundaga at the Heartless. Then another. Then a third.

It was getting hard to focus on the battle at hand.

She should get moving again…

She’d activated Thunderbolt, though, and started attacking the Heartless as it flew close enough for her to attack. Ven was already attacking it fervently, having triggered Fever Pitch. It didn’t look like the Heartless had much health left, and with the rate Ven was attacking—

_Maybe I could let him finish it off…_

_I don’t have much farther to go…_

Aqua quickly shook that thought from her mind. Regardless of how badly she needed to see this person, she could _not_ leave Ven to finish this Heartless on his own. Yes, he’d probably be fine, but she wouldn’t be a very good friend to just leave him. She quickly cast Magnera, drawing the Heartless to her, and in doing so triggered Ghost Drive. She started unleashing its attacks on the Heartless before the Magnera wore off.

The Heartless really _did_ have only a little health left. It was dead before Aqua’d used up all of her Ghost Drive, not that that mattered.

 _Nearly there!_ the nudge in her mind cried. _Nearly there! You’re not that far from him!_

 _Him?_ she thought, heart skipping a beat. That could be—

No, she wouldn’t think it. Wouldn’t get her hopes up. It could be anyone. It still could be anyone.

“Where were we headed?” Ven asked.

“This way,” Aqua said, starting in that direction. She walked slowly at first, waiting for Ven to catch up with her, though she desperately wanted to take off at a run. It wasn’t much farther now. She could feel it.

Ven stopped about halfway to her. He frantically shook his head and took a step back. “I- I don’t think I can go any farther,” he said.

Worried, Aqua ignored the _very persistent_ tug on her mind and went over to him. “Why not?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Dark,” Ven replied. “It’s all… dark, up ahead. I don’t like the way it feels on my skin. I- I don’t think I should go anywhere near it.”

Aqua frowned. This wasn’t the first time Ven had done something like this. He’d had problems with the darkness in general off and on for a while now. There were even some Heartless that were just too much—too dark—for him to handle. Still, she couldn’t help but worry each time this happened.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. You go on ahead! There was someone you needed to see in that direction, right?”

She nodded, slowly, the nudge in her mind urging her to go ahead and just leave Ven here, because she _really couldn’t_ pass up this opportunity. But—no. She wasn’t going to leave Ven that quickly. “Still, though, Ven—”

“I’ll be fine!” he assured her. “I’ll just… I’m sure there’s more Heartless around that we missed or something. I’ll go fight them! You go take care of whatever this is that you need to get taken care of.”

Yes, it was perfect! He was fine with it; she should just go on ahead. It wasn’t much farther. She couldn’t pass this up—

Aqua rooted herself to the spot, taking a moment to see what she could sense up ahead. There was… darkness, just as Ven had said. It was… small, though. It didn’t feel like it should be enough to cause Ven to have _this_ reaction. And it didn’t feel like it was a Heartless or anything of that sort. This felt less like some _thing,_ and more like some _one._

Her heart about stopped.

It couldn’t be…

_Terra…?_

But it was too much darkness to be him… wasn’t it?

 _Could it be—no. No, there’s no way! No_ way _it could be Xehanort!_

Right?

Aqua wasn’t sure which possibility scared her more.

She closed her eyes and made a decision. If whoever it was up ahead—be it who she needed to see or not—actually _was_ Terra, but in _that_ condition…

Or if it was something worse…

She didn’t want Ven around. If she was going to investigate, she’d do it _after_ Ven was elsewhere; somewhere safer. In which case… she’d investigate later. _Now_ she’d get Ven away from here.

“The feeling’s gone,” she lied. “Whoever it was that I needed to see must’ve left already.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Ven said. She couldn’t tell if he believed her or not.

She only nodded in agreement. It was taking her a lot of effort to ignore the now desperate nudge in her mind. Every inch of her wanted to turn and run; she was _so close_. “Why don’t we go ahead and leave?” she suggested, hoping her voice wasn’t as strained as she felt. “I’m sure we’ve done enough Heartless bashing for one day.”

Ven agreed all-too-readily. “Alright, where to?” he asked, summoning his Keyblade Glider.

“You pick,” she told him. Ignoring the tug on her mind had become so consuming that it really was a struggle to do anything else. It even took her a moment to remember _how_ to summon her Keyblade Glider, due to how distracting the tug was.

“Traverse Town sound good?”

“Sure.”

Ven opened a portal to the Lanes Between and sped through. Aqua followed after, though at a slightly slower pace. It was getting extremely hard to concentrate on anything but the thought of turning around and going back. Thankfully, the tugging that was trying to keep her in Neverland vanished the moment she entered the Lanes Between.

Just before she left, though, she could’ve sworn she heard—

But, it was impossible, really.

She couldn’t have…

She…

_I could’ve sworn I heard Terra calling my name._

**xxx**

They’d rented a room at the Hotel in Traverse Town, planning to spend the night there. Or, at least, Ven would spend the night there. Aqua wasn’t quite sure when she’d get back…

“I’m going to go back to Neverland,” she told Ven. “See if I can figure out what that darkness you sensed was.”

“Okay.” He seemed a bit skeptical, but otherwise un-bothered. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, honestly. “But, if I don’t come back—”

Ven laughed. “Of course you’ll come back, Aqua! Don’t talk like that!”

“Of course,” she whispered. “But on the off chance I really _don’t_ come back—”

“I’ll come looking for you. Yeah?”

She just smiled. It looked like there was no arguing her way out of this one. “Yeah,” she said, starting for the door.

“Hey!”  Ven called, stopping her.

Aqua turned to him. He’d pulled his wayfinder out, and was holding it out to her. Recognizing the gesture, she pulled out her own wayfinder and held it so that the tips of their wayfinders touched. Ven slowly met her eyes.

“If you need my help,” both his face and tone were completely serious, “just call me. I’ll be right there.”

“You said you didn’t want to go near that darkness,” Aqua reminded him, quietly. She couldn’t quite place _why_ she was refusing his offer to help, though.

He just grinned. “There ain’t no darkness that’s going to keep me from helping out one of my best friends,” he told her.

Unable to stop herself, she grinned, too. “Thanks, Ven.”

**xxx**

Everything was quiet when she returned to Neverland. There weren’t even very many Heartless. Aqua banished her Keyblade Glider, but kept her Keyblade out. She’d landed in the exact spot she and Ven had been in before they left. So… she just had to go... _that_ way.

It was a good thing she remembered which way the nudge had been trying to lead her, because the nudge was long gone, now. It hadn’t started the moment she entered Neverland, like she almost hoped it would.

Did that mean whoever it was she was supposed to meet was gone?

She had a nasty feeling the answer to that was yes.

She slowly walked to the center of the next area, warily. No Heartless came to great her—which was odd, since she was in a separate area. In fact, the lack of Heartless worried her more than the thought of coming across the darkness she was hunting.

Though, it was getting harder to worry about the darkness she was hunting, since it was becoming pretty clear that there _was_ no darkness here. Whatever it was that Ven had sensed was… gone.

Aqua took a moment to sense the area herself, in case the darkness had merely moved elsewhere. She couldn’t sense the darkness at all, but what she _did_ sense—

Lingering traces of an essence that felt like… Terra’s.

She closed her eyes, sorting through all the other lingering traces. There were lingering traces of darkness, which didn’t surprise her. There was a faint hint of a strong magic leftover in the air, too. And, clear as day, there was that trace of Terra’s essence. He had been here.

Somehow.

It seemed a bit odd, remembering what state Terra had been in last time they’d seen each other. But she couldn’t deny what she felt. And it most certainly felt like Terra had been here.

But where was he now?

There was nothing here.

No darkness.

No Heartless…

No Terra.

No… nothing.

Aqua let out a long breath, unsure of what to do now. It seemed a bit pointless to return to Traverse Town already, but… there wasn’t anything for her to do here. The darkness was gone—left, for some reason. She was pretty clear of that.

_…_

_Was the darkness I sensed…Terra?_

She didn’t want to think much about that possibility.

Even though it would explain why the darkness wasn’t here… and why the nudge in her mind had stopped. If the nudge was leading her to Terra, and the darkness she had sensed was Terra…

Aqua didn’t know what to do.

Now she wished she’d never left Neverland. If she had stayed… met whoever it was that she was apparently supposed to meet—be it Terra or not—then…

She sighed.

Then, at the very least, she’d have some answers.

Now she just had nothing.

Feeling very unaccomplished, and a bit angry at herself, Aqua returned to Traverse Town. There was no use staying in Neverland when there was nothing there for her.


	15. (CE/DI) Ienzo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vexen finds he misses Ienzo, and Joseph takes matters into his own hands.

**ONE**

“Are you alright, Joseph?” Vexen asked, looking over at the boy. Joseph sat on the other end of the couch, swinging his legs slightly, looking rather...

“Bored,” Joseph said. “Just bored.”

Vexen couldn’t help but worry slightly. He’d learned over the past few months that Joseph and bored were never a good combination. He wondered briefly where 29 was, before realizing that there was someone else who wasn’t with Joseph but should’ve been. “Where’s Toby?”

“Taking a nap,” Joseph replied. “He said he was tired. Guess I don’t blame him.”

“Maybe you should take a nap, too.”

Joseph looked up at him then, the look on his face clearly showing his defiance. “I’m not tired!”

Vexen smiled. He glanced at what he was doing – reorganizing his research notes for the third time that day – and then said: “You want to go get ice cream?”

Joseph made a face. “Alright,” he agreed reluctantly.

Vexen raised his eyebrows. “Well, if you don’t want to go.” He turned away from Joseph and returned to reorganizing his research. “I have other things I could be doing.” _Like finding somewhere better than my pockets to keep my notes. Like checking the surveillance footage to see if Riku missed deleting anything from yesterday._

“No, no!” Joseph was on his feet now. “We can go!”

Vexen chuckled and pocketed his notes, doing his best not to crumple them as he did so. He gestured for Joseph to go ahead and open the dark corridor and pushed himself to his feet.

It wasn’t a long time before they both had their ice cream and were standing in Twilight Town as they ate it. Well, Vexen was standing. Joseph had run off. Vexen didn’t think too much of it – Joseph did this every time they came – and merely resigned himself to his thoughts.

Part of him wondered what he was even doing here; spending time babysitting Joseph rather than doing other things. He quickly countered those thoughts with rational ones: What was there to do, really?

Yes, he wanted to find a better place to keep his notes. Yes, he wanted to check the surveillance footage. But those were just little things to do; minor things to keep himself occupied. He didn’t have much else. He’d only come to this universe to see his Riku Replica, and besides that… there wasn’t much purpose he had here.

In times past, he’d spend his time doing research or conducting experiments. But, here, there was little research for him to do, and there was no time or room for him to do any experiments – even if there was, what would he do experiments on? What would he even be looking for? What little research he did nowadays focused on Riku – his Riku Replica – but that was really only because it was the only thing that particularly interested him. There were so many things, so many changes, about his Riku that he’d wanted to study, but… since Riku avoided him…

To put it at best, the research was going absolutely nowhere.

Besides Riku, there was nothing else for him to research – even if he _was_ interested in it. He’d collected all the data he deemed useful and possible to collect from Namine, with the only exception being data on her meltdowns. However, it wasn’t just _his_ research on Namine’s meltdowns that had come to a standstill. Part of him wanted to keep pressing for research anyway – it would pride him to know he’d been the first to figure it all out – but the rest of him knew that it wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Riku wouldn’t let him anywhere near Namine, and even if Riku did (and Riku’d have to be desperate to do so), there was simply nothing else to study, no more clues to be found.

That left him where he was now. A researcher with nothing to research.

Joseph suddenly shot by on a skateboard. Vexen watched him go, a bit confused, until his brain finally processed what he had just seen.

“Joseph!” he called, quickly running after the boy.

Joseph brought the skateboard to a stop and turned to Vexen. “Yeah?”

“Where’d you get the skateboard from?”

“Some kids here let me borrow it! It was really nice of them, but they apparently don’t use the skateboard all that often, which is, y’know, why they let me borrow it, so they don’t mind. Sometimes they watch me skateboard, but—”

“Didn’t 29 tell you _not_ to borrow a skateboard from these kids?” Vexen asked, interrupting Joseph’s rambling.

Joseph made a face. “Well, yeah, but—”

Vexen frowned. Joseph sighed.

“I’ll go return the skateboard,” he muttered, starting off. It wasn’t long before he was on the skateboard again, though. Vexen only hoped that he was merely skating it back to where it belonged—though knowing Joseph, even if he was, there’d be plenty detours along the way.

Vexen sighed and moved so that he was standing somewhere a bit less conspicuous. He was just trying to figure out where he had left his thoughts when it struck him.

He could research Joseph and the other Experiments.

Even if Joseph and Toby were the only two left, there were certainly more of them at one point. What were they created for? They’d been labeled as “Experiments”, but what had the Vexen here been experimenting? What kids were like? How different data worked when combined into a single Replica? What certain members of the Organization might have acted like at a younger age?

He pulled out his notebook to write down his thoughts, though in his hurry to get to a blank page he sent one of the extra pieces of paper he had stuck between the pages to the ground. Frowning, he bent to pick it up, thinking as he did so that he really needed to find a better way to organize all this. Things had been simpler when he had access to a computer on a regular basis…

Maybe he could convince someone here to—what was he thinking? Alpha didn’t let him anywhere near the computers; he doubted telling Alpha he merely wanted it for research purposes would change anything. He could certainly _try_ , though…

But, perhaps, maybe it would be best to wait until this whole “rebellion” thing was over. It shouldn’t be too much longer, right?

He took a second to think about that, and then almost laughed. There was never anything “quick” about Rebellion, unless the rebels were killed shortly after rebelling.

He frowned, then, realizing something. The Organization had never taken kindly to defiance – at least they hadn’t in his universe. Why was it that the rebellion hadn’t all been killed yet? Certainly, if Xehan—Xemnas wished them all dead, it wouldn’t take him much effort to come kill them all. Why were they still alive? Did he just not think it worth his time? Was there some other purpose the Replicas had originally been built for, and thus killing them would—

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream. A boy’s scream, though it sounded more shocked than scared or pained. It was also… familiar…

Vexen was about to go investigate when Joseph came running in his direction, chased by a Heartless of the Soldier variety. Of course, it must’ve been Joseph who screamed. He’d been silly to think it had been—

_Someone screamed. He knew that scream. Dread filling him, he took off at a dead run, hoping to reach the source in time. He had only just turned the corner when he saw them:_

_A boy, with hair the color of steel that fell to cover half his face, glancing at the creatures that surrounded him not with fear, but alarm. Typical._

_eStill, that didn’t stop the terror from rising in his chest._

_“Ienzo!”_

Not even thinking about it, Vexen grabbed Joseph by the arm and pulled him out of harm’s way, putting himself between the Heartless and the boy. It wasn’t until he’d dropped his notebook and summoned his shield that he realized the Heartless they were facing was awfully weak and not much of a threat. Well… not much of a threat to him. It was still a decent threat to Joseph.

Vexen stared at the Heartless a moment more, and then bashed it over the head. It died instantly.

“What was _that?_ ” Joseph asked.

Not entirely sure how to respond to that question, as he wasn’t quite sure what that was himself, Vexen asked: “Are you alright, Ie- ah, Joseph?”

_Joseph. Joseph, not Ienzo!_

_What is going on?_

One memory. One measly little memory. Why was it suddenly so hard to keep the two boys straight in his head?

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Joseph said, then laughed. “You alright? You look like you nearly had a heart attack!”

Vexen turned to him, a bit confused. Joseph laughed again.

“That’s what 29 tells me every time I scare him,” he explained.

“Ah…” Vexen said, slowly. “I’m… fine.”

_I just had my life flash before my eyes, but…_

“I’m fine,” he repeated.

Joseph didn’t look convinced. After a second, he bent down and picked up Vexen’s notebook. “You dropped this,” he said, handing it to Vexen. Vexen took it, and stared at it for a moment, his mind not registering what he needed to do with it right away.

 _Focus, Vexen!_ he scolded, returning the notebook to his pocket.

_There are more important things at hand than reminiscing about Ienzo._

“Why was there a Heartless chasing you?” he asked, frowning slightly at Joseph.

Joseph shrugged. “Well, every now and then,” he said. “There are a couple of Heartless around here – just here and there, not a lot of them. If you get far enough away from them, they’ll usually leave you alone, but this one decided he wanted to follow me.” He shifted slightly. “Sorry for scaring you. I just wasn’t sure what to do. I mean, did you see that thing? It was like, twice my size!”

Vexen chuckled at that. The Heartless had _not_ been that large.

“You never did answer my question,” Joseph said after a moment. “What _was_ all that about?”

“What was what about?” Vexen asked.

“I don’t know. Throwing yourself in front of me and all that.”

“Oh…” Vexen was silent for a while. He didn’t know what to say. Putting himself between the Heartless and Joseph like he had had just been… instinct. He hadn’t even thought about it. He just… did it. Which was odd, knowing him. He usually spent time weighing the consequences, the outcomes, before he acted.

But what to tell Joseph?

“I… ah… You were in danger,” Vexen said, finally. “You cannot defend yourself. It was the logical thing to do; get you out of harm’s way.”

To his surprise, Joseph burst out laughing at this.

“‘Logical?’ Are you kidding, Vexen!” He could hardly get the words out he was laughing so hard. “There was _nothing_ logical about what you just did! Oh, man…” He sighed. “I mean, seriously, the _logical_ thing to do would’ve been to shoot an icicle at the Heartless to either freeze or kill it before it could do me any harm. And I know _that,_ because that’s what everyone else does when I’m in danger. What you did…” Joseph paused here, as if unsure what to say. “Only 29 has ever done _that._ ”

Vexen stared, not quite knowing how to respond to this. Yes, he realized that there really hadn’t been anything logical about putting himself in front of Joseph like that. But the fact that Joseph recognized it?

Well, Joseph only recognized it because he knew what the logical thing was based on everyone else’s—or at least the rest of the Vexen Replicas’—actions. Even so, that was very perceptive of him.

_Like Ienzo._

He frowned.

_Now you’re just picking up similarities where there probably aren’t any. So what? The boy shares a few traits with Ienzo. Does that mean anything? No. Just coinci—_

_Wait a minute._

_Joseph is an Experiment; crafted from the data of multiple Organization members._

_Could he have some of Ien—Zexion’s data in him?_

Vexen didn’t see why not.

“Vexen?” Joseph asked.

“Hmm?”

“You zoned out for a second there.”

“Sorry,” Vexen said. “I was thinking.”

Joseph nodded, understanding. After a second, he asked, quietly: “I remind you of Ienzo, don’t I?”

Vexen frowned. “How did you…?”

Joseph shifted uncomfortably, and when he spoke, he did not meet Vexen’s gaze. “You, sort of, kind of, screamed his name before you threw yourself in front of me,” he muttered. He scratched his nose then, almost nervously.

“Oh…” _I screamed Ienzo’s name before—how embarrassing…_ “Right.”

“I guess it makes sense though,” Joseph shrugged, and then looked up at Vexen, smiling slightly. “I’ve got Zexion’s data in me, and he and Ienzo are the same person, are they not?” He pushed his hair out of his face as he said this, and Vexen noticed that his hair only fell to cover the right side of his face.

Vexen was suddenly positive that if Joseph let his hair grow out, it’d look exactly like Ienzo’s—minus the fact it was darker, of course.

“But,” Joseph said then, a bit suddenly. “I’m confused. What’s Ienzo got to do with anything?”

“I… looked after him, when he was a child,” Vexen explained.

“Oh.” Joseph nodded; this obviously made perfect sense to him somehow. He surprisingly didn’t ask any further questions on the subject. Vexen wondered that if, because he had some of Zexion’s data, there was a subconscious part of his brain that already understood Ienzo’s life. Something else he’d have to explore when he eventually got to researching the Experiments farther. Then again, this could just be complete bogus…

“You miss Ienzo?” Joseph asked.

Vexen frowned. What had he done or said to give Joseph that indication? Or was Joseph just asking? Joseph could just be asking…

“You got that faraway look that Riku used to get when he was missing Namine,” Joseph explained.

Vexen almost laughed. He’d been thinking about research, not Ienzo. But, now that Joseph brought it up, he admitted that he did… miss Ienzo. Or, Zexion. Or… whatever he was going by now that he was a Somebody again.

“Y’know, you could always go to the other universe and see him, couldn’t you?”

“I could,” Vexen agreed. There was always an option to go back to the other universe; it was really only a dark corridor away. Maybe he would now. Or, well, he’d go after he made sure Joseph was back in Castle Oblivion and _not_ going to follow him.

But why did he have this nagging feeling that there was a reason he shouldn’t go to the other universe?

Oh right.

“Actually, I might not be able to,” he said, slowly. “If Xehanort’s still around, he’ll kill me in a heartbeat. I’m not sure if it’s safe…”

“He hate you _that_ much?” Joseph asked. He didn’t sound very surprised, though. They’d discussed the matter of Xehanort before.

Hadn’t they?

“I betrayed him,” Vexen sighed. “He doesn’t take kindly to traitors. He’d kill me in a heartbeat if I set foot in—” The words caught in his throat as an all-too-familiar terror gripped his chest. Zexion— _Ienzo_ —had betrayed Xehanort, too. He was undoubtedly dead. There was no likely way he managed to avoid Xehanort’s wrath.

“Set foot in what? The other universe?” Joseph said. Then he noticed the look on Vexen’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s dead,” Vexen whispered, not wanting to say the words, as if it would avoid making them true. “Ienzo—Zexion—is dead. Xehanort killed him.”

Joseph frowned, concerned. “You sure?”

“He betrayed Xehanort just as I did. There is no doubt he’s dead.”

“I don’t know,” Joseph said. “If your Zexion’s anything like ours, he likely put up a decent fight. He could’ve gotten away.”

“But you don’t know Xehanort,” Vexen replied. “He’s… he isn’t someone you want to upset.” He sighed, not sure how to put this in terms that Joseph would understand. “Would you ever want to anger Xemnas?”

Joseph’s eyes widened in horror, and he quickly shook his head. “He’d kill me! He’d kill anyone who angered him!”

“Xehanort is like that,” Vexen said. “But stronger.”

Joseph let out a long breath. “Sheesh.”

“See why I believe Ienzo is dead?”

Joseph made a face. “But you don’t know for certain that he’s dead, do you?”

“There’s not a likely chance he’s alive, Joseph,” Vexen said, sadly. “I only escaped Xehanort because I came _here_ , where Xehanort would never think to look. Ienzo…” He rubbed his head. “I feel awful. Did I think once about Ienzo before I left? No. I only wanted to save my own skin.”

Joseph laid a hand on his arm, trying to be comforting. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. Xehanort probably would’ve killed you too, if you had stayed, right?”

“That doesn’t change anything.  I still feel awful. I feel like I should’ve tried anyway.”

Joseph sighed. “You want another ice cream?” he asked. “Ice cream always makes me feel better when I’m upset.”

Vexen shook his head. “No, but thank you anyway, Joseph.”

“I still think you should go to the other universe,” Joseph said after a moment.

Vexen turned to him, not sure if he was upset or just plain exasperated that Joseph had suggested that again. “We already said that Ienzo is most likely dead, did we not?”

“Well, yeah, _most likely,_ ” Joseph said, smiling. “But he could’ve gotten lucky. People get lucky sometimes. He could’ve gotten away! He might still be alive! And you won’t know until you go find out, will you?”

“But Xehanort—”

“Time passes quicker in your universe, right? It’s been…” Joseph took a second to count. “Like, three months since you got here. Three months is plenty of time for someone to stop Xehanort, right? And they would have had _more_ time than that. You mentioned Sora was kind of a hero in your universe. He’s had plenty of time to stop Xehanort!”

True. Sora and his friends had most likely taken care of Xehanort in that amount of time.

But that didn’t mean Ienzo was alive…

“Do you want _me_ to go find out for you?” Joseph asked. “I can!”

“No,” Vexen said, firmly. That was not an option. “29 would kill me if he found out I gave you permission to go to another universe. He panics enough when you go to a different World!”

Joseph grimaced.

“But you aren’t going to go?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He suddenly sounded very grumpy.

Vexen shrugged, almost helplessly.

“So what are you going to do!?” Joseph demanded. “Are you just going to sit here and mope, then?” He didn’t give Vexen the chance to reply. “’Cause if you are, then I’m going back to Castle Oblivion. You’re bumming me out.”

When Vexen didn’t answer, Joseph formed a dark corridor around himself and was gone.

 

 

“Toby! Toby wake up!” Joseph shook Toby until Toby finally opened his eyes. “Sheesh!” Joseph said, once Toby was awake. “You’re harder to wake up than Axel!!”

“Whatcha wake me up for?” Toby groaned, rolling over. “I was sleeping…”

Joseph shook him again. “C’mon!! We’re gonna go on an adventure!”

Toby slowly opened one eye. “We are?”

“Yeah!!” Joseph bounced up and down slightly in his excitement.

“Where we going?’” Toby asked, a bit groggily.

“I mentioned that I’ve been to another universe before, right?” Joseph asked. Before Toby could answer, he continued talking. “Well, we’re going to go there again. I need to find someone!”

Toby slowly sat up. “Who are we looking for?”

“Ienzo. Zexion.” Joseph made a face. “Vexen kept calling him Ienzo. Anyway, Vexen’s suddenly worried about him, and he’s too paranoid to go and make sure he’s alright. He thinks he’s dead. So, we’re going to go find out for him.” Joseph grinned, now. “It’ll be fun!”

Toby rubbed his eyes. He didn’t argue, probably because he didn’t feel he had much of a choice in the matter. Joseph was hard to argue with, sometimes. “How we gonna find him?”

Joseph shrugged. “I figured we’d just go to the other universe, ask someone about Xehanort—someone else Vexen’s worried about being alive, but for completely different reasons. Apparently Xehanort’s out to kill him, or something. But, anyway, we’ll go to the other universe, ask about Xehanort, and once we’ve got that cleared up, we’ll ask about Ienzo. Hopefully someone knows if he’s okay. And where he lives.”

“That seems like an awful lot of work,” Toby said, frowning.

“What else are we supposed to do?” Joseph asked.

“Can’t you just… I don’t know… form a dark corridor straight to someone?”

“Oh! Probably! Riku and Namine do that all the time!” Joseph laughed, then closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue in concentration. He slowly held out a hand. “Let’s see… Vexen’s Ienzo…”

A dark corridor formed at his fingertips.

Joseph opened his eyes. He and Toby stared at the corridor for a moment.

“You think that worked?” Toby asked.

Joseph shrugged, but he grinned. “Let’s find out! What’s the worst that can happen, huh? We end up in the wrong universe?” He stepped through. Not wanting to be left behind, Toby got out of his bed and followed after.

 

 

**TWO**

Hollow Bastion was surprisingly quiet that afternoon.  Or at least, the particular district with this particular set of shops in it was.  It wasn’t like this area was  _always_ free of Heartless, it just was recently.  Rumor had it that the owner of the Book Store was responsible. 

Regardless of what Ienzo said, it wasn’t actually true that he was responsible.  For whatever reason, the Heartless had just decided to leave this area of Hollow Bastion alone for the past few days.  It wasn’t like he (or anyone else, really) was going to argue with it.  However, Ienzo didn’t quite like getting credit for things he wasn’t even responsible for. 

Especially if it meant that people kept smiling at him when he went anywhere.  It wasn’t like he didn’t want to be smiled at—he just would prefer not to be noticed entirely.  He wanted to run his Book Store and be left in peace.  Something that didn’t seem to be plausible in the slightest as of late. 

Stupid Darkness.  Stupid Xehanort.  Stupid.  Just. Stupid.

Currently, Ienzo was up in his study, trying to see if he could find anything in regards to getting past the large amount of darkness blocking their way to the Castle.  No luck, as of yet. 

Pi was downstairs, humming quietly to himself as he dusted the shelves—something he rather liked doing.  He had to hum quietly though, lest he disturb Ienzo. 

Neither of them were in the slightest way aware of the havoc that was about to ensue on their shop.

 

 

Joseph and Toby arrived in the quiet streets of Hollow Bastion. 

“Are you sure about this?” Toby asked, looking around warily.

“Sure!” Joseph said.  “As soon as I figure out we’re in the right universe, I just have to find Ienzo.  Or, if I find Ienzo first, I have to make sure it’s the right universe.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Toby asked.

“Asking around.  People generally talk to me.”

Toby scratched the back of his neck.  “Okay,” he said.  “You seem to know what you’re doing.”

“Oh, I hardly ever actually know what I’m doing,” Joseph said.  “Not the whole plan anyway.  I sometimes like to just make it up as I go along.  It seems to work.”

“You planned the chandelier,” Toby pointed out.

“I had to!” Joseph argued.  “I had to have a definitive distraction to even be allowed to go on that mission.  Besides, it was the  _chandelier_ , of  _course_ I had to bring it crashing down.  The Larxene Replica was just an added bonus.”

Toby wasn’t sure what to say to that.  So he didn’t bother saying anything, he just followed off in the direction Joseph started walking.

“So where did you have that Dark Corridor set to go?” Toby asked.

“Oh, somewhere near where Ienzo would be.”

“So, wouldn’t that mean we’d find Ienzo  _before_ we figure out the universe thing?”

“You would think,” Joseph said with a shrug.  “But I think you should know that things don’t always work out like that.”

Toby shrugged passively.  “So, won’t people notice that we’re just walking around?”

“Well, from the looks of things, we’re in Hollow Bastion— _a_  Hollow Bastion, anyway.  Loads of people come in and out of here all the time I hear.  We should be fine.  If not, well, Dark Corridor.”

“I don’t think you can use that as a verb,” Toby mused.

Joseph shrugged.  “Like I care?”

The two boys continued walking about the streets until Joseph saw an art store.

“Hmm, I wonder if I should pick Namine up some pencils,” he mused.  “She’s always complaining she needs more blue ones.”

“Aren’t we looking for someone?” Toby asked. 

“Well, yeah, but, art store!” Joseph replied.

Toby frowned, looking around.  “Didn’t you say something about a guy who was worse than Xemnas?”

Joseph rolled his eyes.  “Like he’d recognize us for what we are? Please.”

Toby bit his lip.

“You are a worry-wart,” Joseph announced.  “Fine, I won’t go into the art store.  But if Namine complains about missing _any_ pencils when we get back, I’m blaming you.”

“You can go get her some pencils.”

Joseph shrugged.  “I’m pretty much broke anyway.  I should save my munny.”

Toby smacked his forehead.

“Oh look! A bookstore!” Joseph exclaimed.

“What are we going to get in a bookstore?” Toby asked.

“Well, I originally formed the corridor for somewhere near where Ienzo would be.  If Ienzo’s like Alpha, or vice-versa, or however the heck that works… anyway! Alpha likes books.  If I were trying to find Alpha, I’d go there.  So, I’ll go there to find Ienzo!”

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Toby agreed.

Joseph beamed.  “See?”

Toby waved Joseph on.  “Come on, we don’t want to worry 29.”

“Assuming we’re in the correct universe, time moves much faster here.  We’ll be fine.”

Toby didn’t look convinced.  Not that it really mattered, because Joseph was already skipping his way into the bookstore.  Toby followed behind him quietly.

The bookstore sure seemed promising enough.  There were loads and loads of books.  The only thing was, they needed to find  _people_.  The bookstore was obscenely quiet at the moment, outside of the little jingle of the bell over the door when they walked in. 

Just then, they heard humming.  Both boys looked around, trying to find the source. 

“Vexen?” Toby asked, running into the person humming.

Pi stopped what he was doing (mid-dust, too) and looked down at the young boy. 

“Hello,” he said.  “Though, I must inform you that I’m not actually Vexen, I’m Vexen Replica Pi.”

“Pi?” Joseph asked, coming over to where Toby was.

“Joseph?” Pi asked.

“Ha!” Joseph exclaimed.  “We  _are_ in the right universe!”

He punched the air excitedly.

“Why-ever did you wish to come here?” Pi asked.

“We’re trying to see if Xehanort’s still around,” Joseph said. 

“Are you looking for him?” Pi asked, incredulous.

“No,” Joseph said.  “Vexen,  _your_ Vexen wants to pay a visit home, but he’s too scared that Xehanort’s still around and is going to kill him.”

“Oh, goodness, no!” Pi said.  “Xehanort is very much dead.  The Keyblade Wielders took care of him.”

“Cool, I guess,” Joseph said, already thinking of what else he had come here to do now that he knew Xehanort wasn’t around anymore.  “So, do you happen to know if Ienzo is still around? We actually want to see him.”

“Yes! Actually!” Pi said.  “You’ve come to just the right place.  He’s just upstairs.  Or, at least, he should be.”

Joseph and Toby exchanged excited looks.

“Told you,” Joseph whispered.

Toby shrugged.

“Shall I go get him?” Pi asked.

“No need to bother,” Joseph said.  “I can go up there!”

“I must say, you probably shouldn’t…” Pi began. 

But it was too late, Joseph had already taken off towards the stairs, Toby following after him. 

“Oh dear,” Pi murmured.  “Ienzo isn’t going to be very happy.”

 

 

Ienzo had stopped his current research in favor of reading through one of his favorite lexicons.  It had a lot of his favorite spells in it and he was contemplating switching over to this one and just adding a few things to it.  Either that, or he needed to take large portions of this lexicon and copy them into his current lexicon. 

Someone knocked on the door. 

“Pi, is this important?” Ienzo asked.

He frowned when he heard an excited whisper, rather than Pi’s voice.  He couldn’t make out what was said during the whisper, but he thought he caught his name…

“Sorry, Mister-Ienzo-Sir!” came a different voice—a child’s voice.  “I don’t mean to disturb you, but I bring a message from someone who wishes to speak to you!”

Ienzo frowned.  He bookmarked his page and went over to the door.  He wasn’t aware that  _anyone_ wished to speak with him.  Not anyone who couldn’t simply come themselves. 

He opened the door.  His eyes beheld two children.  That was not the shocking bit, however.  The shocking bit was that the older of the two boys looked strikingly like Ienzo, himself.  His steely-grey hair falling into one eye, though the boy kept pushing it away.  The younger of the boys bore a resemblance to Axel. 

“May I ask who you are?” Ienzo asked, raising an eyebrow.

The older boy answered him.  “My name is Joseph.  This is my friend, Toby.  The two of us came on behalf of Vexen.”

“Vexen, who?” Ienzo asked.

“The real Vexen, the one who disappeared,” Joseph answered.

Ienzo’s brows furrowed.  He pointed across the hall. 

“Go in there, let’s talk.”

Joseph nodded and made his way over, showcasing a great amount of energy.  Toby, however, moved a bit quieter and slower, as if he was afraid he would break something if he moved too fast. 

The three of them went into the room Ienzo had pointed out, which just so happened to be a sitting room of sorts. 

“Sit where you like,” Ienzo said.

Joseph immediately went to one end of the couch.  Toby sat down next to him.  Ienzo sat in a wooden chair by a desk. 

“You mean to tell me that Vexen is alive?” Ienzo asked.  “It’s been  _months_  since he’s been seen here.”

Joseph and Toby both nodded. 

“He’s alive all right,” Joseph answered.  “He’s been in our universe for quite some time now.  A few months, I would guess.”

Ienzo frowned.  “He’s been missing for much longer than that…”

“I think all the Vexen Replicas have figured out that your universe runs faster than ours,” Joseph said, scrunching his face up.  “I don’t remember details though.”

Ienzo thought for a moment.  This all was logical enough. 

“Vexen Replicas,” he mused.  “You mean to tell me you have a Replica Program in your universe as well?”

Joseph bit his lip.  “Well, more or less.  It’s complicated.  But yes, we’ve got a Program.”

“How do you know Vexen?” Ienzo asked.  “And how did you know to come here to deliver me a message from him? Why couldn’t he come himself?”

“Well, Vexen showed up in our universe a few months ago, like I said,” Joseph said.  “Before Toby showed up, even!”

He nudged Toby in the ribs playfully.  Toby rolled his eyes. 

“Earlier today, or it might have been yesterday, given how time passes all wibbly-wobbly and stuff,” Joseph began.  “I was with Vexen in Twilight Town.  Our Twilight Town, not yours.  Though, I’ve been there too and it’s nice.”

“You’re rambling,” Toby muttered.

“Shh! I’m telling a story! Anyway, Vexen and I were in Twilight Town and this giant Heartless showed up! Vexen threw himself in front of me and he shouted your name, Ienzo.  Of course, I had to ask about it because he did a completely illogical thing, something no Vexen usually does.  The only Vexen who does that is 29, but he’s my caretaker, so that makes sense.”

Ienzo made a mental note to ask about caretakers when Joseph finished his story.

“Vexen told me that he used to take care of you, way-back-when before Xehanort happened.”

Ienzo snorted.  That was a  _simple_ way of putting things…

“Then he got all panicky and mopey because he left you behind when he came to our universe to avoid Xehanort.  Then he felt all bad because he figured you were probably dead because you were a traitor too.  But look! You’re not dead and I can go home and tell Vexen and then he can come here and say hi and everything will be all nice and happy.”

“You have such an optimistic view of life,” Ienzo murmured.

Joseph shrugged.  “Sometimes I do, I guess.”

“Why couldn’t Vexen come himself?” Ienzo repeated.

“Oh, he was too scared to come because he wasn’t sure if Xehanort was still around or not.”

Ienzo snorted.  Sounded like Vexen, mostly worried about his own skin.  Except, a long time ago… when he was in his care.  The story Joseph had detailed about that Heartless in Twilight Town reminded Ienzo of a couple of cases in Hollow Bastion where it had been him and Vexen and some of those darn Unversed. 

“How did you know to come here?” he asked.

“Well, I’ve been to this universe a couple of times before, mostly by accident, but it happens.  So, I figured I could probably get myself here on purpose if I was trying hard enough.  Namine, our Namine, not yours.  Though, I’m sure she’s pretty nice, too.  I’ve only kind of met her.  Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Namine can form Dark Corridors to  _people_ , not just places.  So, I figured if she could do it, I could certainly try.  So I did, and it worked! Toby and I showed up just down the street.”

Ienzo was impressed.  Dark Corridors seemed to be able to do the same thing that star shards could: take someone to people, not just places. 

“So, what do you plan to do now that you’ve found me?” Ienzo asked.

“Well, since Xehanort is dead and you’re not,” Joseph said. “We’re going to go back to our universe, tell Vexen what’s going on, so he can come here and talk to you! Because I know he wants to.  Unless, you’d rather just come with us…?”  
“Probably not,” Ienzo said.  “No offense meant.  However, given the difference in how time works between the universes, it would probably be better if Vexen came here.”

“I think that makes sense,” Joseph said, scratching his head.

“I do have another question for you,” Ienzo began.

“Sure!” Joseph said.

“You mentioned something about your caretaker…”

“Oh, 29?” Joseph laughed. “He’s a Vexen Replica—though you probably figured that. He looks after me, because… uh, I don’t know why Master Vexen chose _him_ to look after me, though I’m glad he did—” Joseph paused then, rather suddenly. “Hang on. I came at this the wrong way.” He thought for a second, and then said: “I am an experiment created by Master Vexen because he wanted to see what would happen if he combined the data of two different people. Oh, and Toby’s an experiment, too.”

Joseph gestured at Toby, and then pointed to himself again. “29 looks after me and keeps me out of trouble. That’s what all the caretakers do… did. You can’t have all those kids running around and _not_ have someone look after them.” His eyes suddenly widened in shock. “Ohmygosh, Toby, I just realized, you don’t have a caretaker, do you?”

Toby slowly shook his head.

“I wonder what happened to him…” Joseph said, slowly, frowning.

Toby shrugged.

“You don’t know what happened to him?” Ienzo asked, a bit surprised. “But shouldn’t he have been taking care of you?”

Toby shifted uncomfortably. “Well, yeah, but… the thing is… I sort of…” He swallowed. “I spent the past couple months—”

“Locked up by the Organization,” Joseph finished. Toby threw him a questioning look, but Joseph ignored it. “’Cause Toby’s a special brand of experiment, equipped with the abilities of a couple different Organization members. But the Organization deemed him dangerous, so they locked him up since our Replica Program was all out of whack and they couldn’t do anything else with him. And since he was locked up, he didn’t need anyone looking after him, so his caretaker was probably reassigned.”

“I’m not dangerous!” Toby protested.

“Well, _yeah,_ ” Joseph replied. “But the Organization thought you were for some reason.”

“Whose abilities do you have?” Ienzo asked.

“Axel’s and Larxene’s,” Toby answered.

“Ah, I could see why the Organization might consider you dangerous, then.” Ienzo turned to Joseph, moving his head so that he could _almost_ look at Joseph with both eyes, given the fact that his hair hung down over the right one. “And I take it _you_ broke him out of wherever he was being held.”

“What was I supposed to do? Leave him there?” Joseph looked horrified. “I’m not cruel!”

“And it wasn’t at all hard to break him out?”

Joseph shook his head. “Nah. All I had to do was open a dark corridor. I mean, you’d _think_ that they’d put someone they considered dangerous in a corridor-proof room, but--”

“They probably didn’t see a need to,” Toby said. “I can’t form dark corridors.”

“Mmhmm,” Ienzo said, slowly, not entirely positive if he believed this story. Then again, there were things about their universe that he obviously didn’t understand, but…

“Aw, no, now you look curious!” Joseph whined. “I was trying to _avoid_ explaining all the crud that’s going on in our universe! I mean, I _could_ explain it, but it’d take _forever_ and 29’s going to realize I’m gone eventually, and I didn’t tell anyone I was heading over here…”

“No, it’s alright,” Ienzo assured him. “You don’t have to explain.”

Joseph grinned. “Great! We need to get going, anyway,” he hopped to his feet. “Vexen needs to know you’re alive. So… we’ll just go. I’ll send Vexen over here. Expect him to be here… in, I don’t know, less than a day? I’ll send him over as soon as I possibly can, which might be a while for you due to the timey-whimey-ness.” Joseph shrugged.

“Alright,” Ienzo said.

Joseph saluted. “See ya! C’mon Toby.”

He opened a dark corridor, and the two were gone.

 

 

**THREE**

“Vexen! Veexeennn!!”

Vexen glanced up from what he was doing (checking through the security footage, though he hadn’t found anything). There was a loud _thud_ as someone hit the doorframe. He frowned, worried, but saw that it was only Joseph, using the doorframe to bring himself to a halt.

“If- I had known-” Joseph gasped, bent over, breathing hard. “That you- would- be up here--” He held up his hand, telling Vexen to wait. “Can’t breathe.”

“Did you run all the way up here?” Vexen asked, raising his eyebrows with amusement.

Joseph just nodded.

“Why didn’t you use a dark corridor?”

“That’s- what- I was trying to say!”

Vexen chuckled. “And why are you looking for me?” he asked.

“We find him?” Toby asked, coming around the corner at a much slower pace.

“Hold! On!” Joseph gasped. “Let me- catch my breath!”

Toby smirked. “That’s why _I_ didn’t run,” he said.

Joseph shot a glare over at him, but didn’t say anything. When he finally caught his breath, he broke out into a grin. “He’s alive,” he informed Vexen, plainly.

“Who?” Vexen asked, though almost need not to.

“Who do you think?” Joseph asked, his grin widening.

“Ienzo,” Vexen breathed.

“See! I told you!” Joseph said. “And you were all worried that he’d be dead. Well, he’s not. He’s alive, and well, and running a bookstore in Hollow Bastion. And Xehanort’s dead, and been dead for a while, so you can go say hi to Ienzo now and stop being all… mopey.”

“I wasn’t--” Vexen began, but paused, realizing something else. “Wait a minute, you went to the other universe!”

“So?” Joseph asked. “We were there like, not even an hour. And, since time runs faster there, we were gone from here for only a couple minutes. Seventeen minutes, I’d bet.” He nodded confidently. “And if 29 asks where I’ve been, and finds out that I’ve been in another universe, I will tell him that I was trying out if their Twilight Town’s ice cream is better or worse than the ice cream from our Twilight Town. I’ve tried, and it’s worse.” He nudged Toby in the ribs, then, grinning at him. “See? He’ll never find out!”

“Never find out _what?_ ” 29 asked from behind him.

Joseph paled. Toby scooted out of the way and for the most part out of sight. Vexen wasn’t sure if he should laugh at 29’s impeccable timing, or if he should feel sorry for Joseph.

“Uh…” Joseph said slowly. He cast a hesitant glance up at 29. “That depends, what all did you hear me say?”

“I heard you say that you were in another universe,” 29 replied.

“Well, like I said, I wanted to see if their ice cream was better than ours. It isn’t! How long was I gone, by the way?”

“Sixteen minutes,” 29 said.

Joseph snapped his fingers. “Darn. So close! But I was only gone sixteen minutes! It’s not like you _really_ need to be worried, right?” He grinned.

“Nice try.”

Joseph sighed. “Yeah, fine, I get it, I’m in trouble.”

29 led Joseph off.

Toby watched them go, not saying anything, like he feared if he was noticed he’d be in trouble too. After a moment, he yawned. “I’m gonna go back to my nap…” he said, slowly, and started off.

Vexen stared at the doorway, unsure what to do now. Ienzo was alive. Should he go see him? Joseph would be mad if he didn’t…

“Just one second! I need to tell Vexen--”

“Joseph!”

Joseph poked his head back into the room. “Bookstore. He runs a bookstore. I’d form a dark corridor for you or something, but I’m in tro—I’m coming!!” He was off again before 29 was forced to come get him.

“Bookstore…” Vexen said slowly, and smiled. He wasn’t at all surprised. He slowly opened a dark corridor, took a deep breath, and then stepped through.

 

 

He emerged in Hollow Bastion. He didn’t have to do much searching to figure out if he was in the right universe. He’d lived here for most of his life. He knew this was the right Hollow Bastion. However, given all the changes in the past… years, he couldn’t remember where the bookstore was. Had there even _been_ a bookstore before Ienzo set one up?

“Excuse me, miss,” Vexen said, stopping a lady passing by. “Could you possibly tell me where I might find a bookstore?”

She stared at him like he was crazy, but said: “Just around the corner. Right across from the Art Store.”

“Thank you,” Vexen said, and started in that direction.

It didn’t take him long to find the bookstore. Like he had been told, it was just around the corner. He paused outside it, suddenly feeling slightly… nervous? Oh, what was wrong with him? He shook his head and pushed the door open.

“A customer!” someone called, sounding excited.

Vexen frowned. That sounded a lot like—

“Wait a minute, Master Vexen?”

He turned and, sure enough, there was one of his Replicas.

“Uhm, yes,” he found himself saying. He made a face. Oh, which Replica was this one? He should know… He should know…

“Pi, sir,” the Vexen Replica said.

Ah, right! Pi had been the one who’d first discovered the parallel universe. Was Vexen surprised that Pi had apparently started helping Ienzo with his bookstore? Slightly. Did he care? Not really.

“You’re here awfully early,” Pi said, after a moment.

“What?”

“Joseph said it might be a while before you got here,” Pi explained. “But it’s only been an hour or so since he left.”

“Oh,” Vexen said slowly. “I left shortly after he spoke to me. Is this a bad time?”

Pi quickly shook his head. “No, I was just… mentioning it. Are things going well in the other universe?”

“For the most part, yes.”

“Is that whole Rebellion thing still going on?”

“Yes.” Vexen sighed. “Listen, Pi, can I speak with Ienzo?” He felt slightly bad for cutting the conversation short, but he really didn’t want to talk about how the Rebellion was going.

Pi nodded. “He’s upstairs. Do you want me to tell him that you’re coming? Though, he is expecting you, since Joseph said he’d be sending you over.”

Vexen thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, I think I’ll just go up there myself.” He paused. “Unless, of course, that’s a problem.”

“It shouldn’t be, sir,” Pi said. “Like I said, he is expecting you.”

Vexen only nodded, and slowly made his way up the stairs. He paused once he reached the top, unsure where exactly Ienzo would be. He hadn’t asked… Oh well, all the doors were open except one, and when he went to examine the closed door, he saw a “do not disturb” sign hung on it, printed in handwriting that he immediately recognized as Ienzo’s.

He knocked on the door. “Ienzo?” he called, tentatively.

There was a long pause, long enough that he considered knocking a second time. But, then, he heard the faint sound of a book closing, followed by the sound of someone getting to their feet. The door opened.

Ienzo stood in the doorway, and stared for a second.

“Vexen,” he said, finally, by way of greeting. He paused. “Unless it’s… Even, now?”

 _Even._ Now that was a name he hadn’t heard in a while. Vexen swallowed, and then shook his head. “No, it’s still--” He laughed slightly. “I couldn’t change my name if I wanted too. They’d all still call me ‘Vexen’ in the other universe.”

He wasn’t positive, but he thought he saw a smile cross Ienzo’s face.

“Parallel universe, huh?” Ienzo asked, a touch of humor in his voice.

Vexen nodded.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised by the things you do, anymore,” Ienzo sighed. “But why a parallel universe? How did you even discover it?”

“Pi did, actually,” Vexen said. “And once he reported it to me--”

“You decided to go there to escape Xehanort,” Ienzo finished.

“Well, yes,” Vexen admitted. Of course escaping Xehanort was one of the reasons he went over to that universe. But there was more to it than that, and Ienzo deserved to know. “But I also went, because… Well, it turned out that my Riku Replica ended up in that universe.”

“Really?”

Ienzo seemed intrigued and… Vexen couldn’t quite distinguish the other emotion. Nor could he distinguish quite what the look on Ienzo’s face was. Contemplation, maybe? If it was any other expression besides that, it was well masked. Vexen almost wished he knew what Ienzo was thinking, and considered asking, when Ienzo said:

“There really isn’t any sense standing here in the hallway and talking.” Ienzo then slipped past Vexen and headed into a room across the hall. Vexen understood that he was meant to follow, and did so.

Ienzo led them to what appeared to be a sitting room. After being told to sit wherever he wished, Vexen made himself comfortable on one end of the couch. Ienzo sat at the other end of the couch.

“Are you-” Vexen began, but paused. “How have you been?” he asked, instead.

Ienzo saw right through it.

“I’m fine, Vexen. Why are you so worried about me, all of a sudden?”

Vexen sighed. “I just… You’ve met Joseph, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ve seen how much he looks like you.”

Ienzo nodded. “The resemblance is almost uncanny. But what else would you expect from a Replica who has some of my data? Or, the other universe’s Zexion’s data. He does have some of the other universe’s Zexion’s data, does he not?”

“I’d assume so,” Vexen said. “Though, he must have more data than that in him. He acts nothing like you—and I expect nothing like that universe’s Zexion, though I have not met him. Joseph is a lot more…” He trailed off, searching for the right word.

“Hyper,” Ienzo said.

“I was going to say _energetic,_ ” Vexen said. “But he’s definitely hyper, too. Anyway, we were in Twilight Town, and--”

“He told me,” Ienzo interrupted, stopping him there. “You shouted my name before throwing yourself in front of him.”

Vexen grimaced. Why did Joseph have to mention _that_ detail? “It wasn’t… quite like…” but he stopped. There was no use fussing over details. “He has the capacity to sound _exactly_ like you. You don’t notice it, because he’s almost always speaking a mile a minute, but…” He shook his head, helplessly. There was no use trying to explain himself, either. He couldn’t to Joseph. He couldn’t to Ienzo. “I don’t know…”

“He reminded you of me,” Ienzo said. “And your brain confused the two of us.”

Vexen nodded. He only wished he could’ve come up with a better way to put it.

“How, may I ask, did that lead to you coming and seeing me?”

“Joseph decided I missed you,” Vexen explained. “And insisted I go see you.”

“Except you were worried about Xehanort being alive and still wishing to kill you,” Ienzo said.

“I was worried he killed you,” Vexen replied. He was silent for a moment, before adding: “I’m sure Joseph mentioned that I didn’t come myself because of Xehanort—though he wasn’t supposed to come here, either. Joseph, that is—but, really, I just…” He paused. “I didn’t want to find that you had been killed.”

“Clearly, I am alive.”

“And it still amazes me. How…?”

_…did you survive? …did you escape? …did Xehanort not kill you?_

But, somehow, Vexen was incapable of asking any of those.

Thankfully, Ienzo understood the unasked question.

“Bra-” Ienzo paused, blinked a few times. “Xigbar let me go.”

Vexen stared. “ _Xigbar_?”

Ienzo nodded.

“Has he gone soft?”

“I don’t know,” Ienzo replied with a shrug. “But I wasn’t going to pass up my chance to escape.”

“Surely Xehanort must’ve known—” Vexen began.

“That I was alive?” Ienzo finished. “Xigbar probably told him that I was dead, and would Xehanort disbelieve him? Unlikely. Besides, I hid where Xehanort wouldn’t find me—even if he was looking—right under his nose.”

Vexen started to ask another question, but Ienzo stopped him.

“Enough about me. You’ve been living in a parallel universe.”

Vexen nodded. “Well, yes,” he said. “I could come back here, though, if I’m needed. I’m not entirely useful in the other universe… I’m sure no one would protest if I wished to return. Well, Joseph would, but—”

“What about your Riku Replica?” Ienzo interrupted.

Vexen made a face. “He certainly wouldn’t miss me. He’d probably glad that I left; he’s not fond of—oh.” He stopped, now that he realized the true meaning of Ienzo’s question. Ienzo wasn’t asking what Riku would think; he was asking if Vexen really wished to leave him.

Vexen sighed and rubbed his head.

“I… I suppose I wouldn’t necessarily want to leave,” he admitted. “But if I need to come back here…”

“It’s fine, Vexen.” Ienzo chuckled slightly. “If you wish to stay in the other universe, then you are certainly free to do so.”

“Are you sure? Are there any problems over here?”

“Just some minor Darkness problems,” Ienzo said. “Nothing Sora and his friends can’t handle. What about the other universe? How are things over there?”

Vexen couldn’t help but groan slightly.

“That bad?”

“Well…” Vexen rubbed his head, trying to think of how to put it. Ienzo would want details, but it would be best to start with the basics, would it not? But what were the basics? The Replica Program… Saix… “The Replica Program over there is extensive—there are about fifty Replicas in Castle Oblivion alone, and I’m not sure how many are in the World that Never Was. And all those Replicas are… at war, as Joseph likes to put it.

“See, the Replica Program—from what I’m told—was thrown into chaos when the Vexen of their universe died. Eventually, the Program was handed to Saix. And Saix… well, isn’t necessarily kind to Replicas, and many Rebelled. I’ve been caught in the middle of said Rebellion.”

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. “Have you, now?”

Vexen shrugged. An explanation adequate to this question wasn’t hard to find—it only took three words—but he did hesitate for a brief second before saying them. “My Riku Replica.”

“Ah.” Ienzo folded his arms across his chest. “Is he leading the rebellion?”

“Yes and no…” Vexen said, slowly. “From my understanding, he’s not leading it by choice. I believe they just declared him leader, and he just gave up on arguing with them.”

“Any reason why they declared him leader?”

“I wasn’t there when it happened,” Vexen said. “But it might have something to do with the fact that he apparently killed a third of the Organization in two days.”

“So they want him to get rid of Saix for them,” Ienzo said.

“No one’s mentioned such a thing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.”

“What’s Sora like, in that universe, then, if your Riku Replica’s the one who’s been dealing with the Organization?” Ienzo asked, after a moment.

“He’s a lot less…” Vexen began, but didn’t quite know where he planned to go with that, so settled instead for: “He’s different.”

The look on Ienzo’s face clearly told Vexen that he was already aware of this.

“Well, he—” Vexen sighed. “I’ve only met him briefly, but he’s been struggling with the darkness, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Has he now?”

“You don’t seem very surprised…” Vexen said, slowly.

“Should I be?” Ienzo replied.

 “I was…” Vexen answered. “Sora never struck me as one to be tempted by the darkness.”

“There are differences between universes, are there not?” Ienzo said with a shrug. “The Replica Program over there is obviously different; I don’t see why Sora can’t be.”

Vexen sighed. Ienzo had him there.

“Speaking of the Replica Program,” Ienzo continued. “How many Replicas did you say there were?”

“If there are as many Replicas in the World that Never Was as there are in Castle Oblivion, nearly a hundred.”

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. “All of Vexen?”

Vexen couldn’t help but laugh. He tried to contain his laughter as quickly as possible, though, and apologized as soon as he had it under control. “No,” he said. “Though I’d bet about a third of them are of him.”

“Who else are there Replicas of?”

“Zexion, Marluxia, and… Larxene.” Vexen grimaced slightly at the thought.

Ienzo grimaced in sympathy. “One Larxene is bad enough…”

“I know!” Vexen said. “I mean, the Replicas of her aren’t terrible—but I don’t understand why they needed to make so many of them. What use are they?”

“How many of them are there?” Ienzo asked.

“I assume twenty-six,” Vexen replied. “One for each letter of the alphabet, since that’s what they’re classified by. The latest in the set I’ve seen is Q, though, and I suppose there could be some that failed.” He paused. “Though, actually, I’m not sure if the Vexen of that universe labeled failed Replicas. I know a Vexen Replica who’s No. 2. And I doubt it’s possible to get the Replication process down on the first or second try. It took me eighteen before I got it right.”

“I don’t know,” Ienzo said. “But I suppose you’re probably right.”

“I’ll have to ask.” Vexen sighed. “Where was I? Before that side tangent?”

“Larxene Replicas.”

Vexen nodded. “Right. I don’t see what purpose they serve! The Vexen Replicas I get; they were most likely created to help maintain the Program. The Zexion Replicas were probably created for similar reasons. The Marluxia Replicas are fighters, as are the Lexaeus Replicas—”

“There are Lexaeus Replicas?” Ienzo interrupted.

“Yes. Did I not mention them?”

Ienzo shook his head.

Vexen grimaced. “Sorry. They must’ve slipped my mind; though it’s not like I see very many of them. I don’t think more than a few were made: I’ve only seen two.”

“Any other Replicas that slipped your mind?” Ienzo asked.

Vexen thought for a moment. “I don’t think… wait! There’s one of Xigbar. Just one.”

“Is that all?”

Vexen nodded, positive this time. “Yes. Of the Organization members, at least.”

“There are Replicas of non-Organization members?”

“There was one of Sora that became Roxas,” Vexen said. “And Namine’s a Replica, in that universe. And, of course, there’s Joseph and Toby.”

Ienzo’s eyes lit up. “I meant to ask Joseph and Toby about this, but they left before I had a chance,” he said. “Are there any other ‘experiments’ like them?”

Vexen paused a second before replying. “No,” he said, slowly. “I’m told that there used to be, but I’ve never seen any of them. They were all gone before I got there. All but Joseph and Toby, of course.”

“What happened to the others?”

Vexen took a deep breath. “I mentioned Saix took charge of the Replica Program, did I not?” Ienzo nodded, and he continued: “Well, Saix deemed the Experiments… useless…”

“And got rid of them?” Ienzo finished.

Vexen nodded solemnly. “That’s what I’m told, anyway.”

“But Joseph…?”

“29 takes his job as Joseph’s caretaker very seriously,” Vexen answered before Ienzo could finish the question.

“And Toby?”

“I’m… not actually sure how he survived,” Vexen said. He believed he remembered Joseph explaining something about it, but he couldn’t quite remember _what_ Joseph had said.

Ienzo frowned. He seemed suspicious of something, now. “Joseph told me that Toby was locked up because the Organization thought he was dangerous,” he stated, plainly.

Vexen frowned, too. That certainly wasn’t what Joseph had said to him. He’d have remembered that. “Did he?” he asked, slowly, confused. Why would Joseph lie to Ienzo?

“Were you not aware of this?”

“Well, I—” Vexen began, but faltered. Saying he was would be lying. Saying he wasn’t would probably tip Ienzo off to the fact Joseph had been lying. Though, from the sounds of it, Ienzo was already aware of this.

“He was lying, wasn’t he?” Ienzo said, when Vexen didn’t say any more.

Exactly.

“I believe so, yes,” Vexen said.

Ienzo nodded. “I thought he might be,” he explained. “Though, I must say, he’s an impressive liar. It was Toby’s confusion that gave him away, not the lies themselves, and certainly not any of Joseph’s own actions. Joseph was completely calm, and even if his story was far-fetched, he didn’t hesitate when I asked for clarification. He had answers ready immediately, and the answers made decent sense.”

Vexen chuckled. “And you’re surprised?”

“Hmm?”

“Does the title ‘Master of Illusions’ not ring a bell?”

Ienzo laughed, now. “True,” he said. “Illusions are really just lies, after all.” He paused, then. “So you aren’t sure how Toby survived?”

Vexen shook his head. “No. But I know it’s probably not what Joseph told you.”

“I highly doubt it’s what Joseph told me,” Ienzo said. “But, anyway… did you mention a _Rebellion_ that was happening?”

“What about it?”

“How long has it been going on?”

Vexen took a second to count. It had already begun by the time he had arrived in the other universe, had it not? So then… “A few months, at least,” he said. “Though I don’t believe it was quite the ‘war’ Joseph considers it until a month or so ago.”

“And the Organization hasn’t done anything about it?”

“About the Rebellion?” Vexen shook his head. “They apparently don’t find it worth their time. Though, it’s not like the Rebellion has done much more than keep them out of Castle Oblivion and prevent them from creating any new Replicas.”

Ienzo frowned. “But how is it a ‘war’ if the Organization isn’t interfering at all?”

“Saix is ‘interfering’. Not the Organization,” Vexen explained.

“There’s a difference?” Ienzo sounded a bit bemused at the thought.

“There seems to be,” Vexen said. He then chuckled slightly. “Though, the entire time I’ve been there, I haven’t even seen Saix himself, merely the Replicas he sends in his stead.”

“Saix never has liked doing the work himself,” Ienzo said, smiling. “Clearly, that does not change across universes. But what is the Rebellion even doing? How is all this even considered a war?”

“Joseph’s the only one who considers it a war,” Vexen reminded Ienzo, simply. “But, I suppose, he considers it one because we spend nearly every day fighting. Saix sends a group of Replicas every other day or so to Castle Oblivion, in hopes to retrieve the part of the Replica Program that the Rebellion has. We have to fight them off.”

“And you fight?”

“Me?” Vexen grimaced. “I’m usually near the Main Computer. Though I’m surprised no one’s complained about that. I’m not sure if I’m really who you’d want as a last line of defense to protect the computer. I’m almost surprised they don’t force Riku to protect the computer. Actually—” He paused, considered that a moment more. “No, I understand why he’s among the first line of defense. If he’s out there, the less people will get hurt on our side.”

“Why is that?” Ienzo asked.

“Because he’s… very quick to get rid of the Replicas that Saix sends. He’s very quick to kill…” Vexen chuckled then, bitterly. “My own little weapon…” He sighed. Riku was created mainly from the Real Riku’s battle data. Born out of battle. It was no wonder he found it so easy to fight.

Could Vexen blame himself for Riku’s tendency to… kill, and kill swiftly? Maybe. He didn’t remember actually Programming Riku that way, but there was a lot he didn’t remember about Programming Riku. He didn’t remember all of the details, that was for sure. It’d been such a long time ago…

“Weapon?” Ienzo’s voice was filled with a cross between confusion and concern. “Were you—?”

“No,” Vexen interrupted. No. He hadn’t… “I didn’t—” he tried to tell Ienzo, but he couldn’t form the sentence. He hadn’t created Riku with that intent in mind. Well… not the intent to use him to kill, anyway. He’d wanted to impress—or perhaps _intimidate_ was the right word—Marluxia. Put the bothersome neophyte in his place. Marluxia was plotting to overthrow the Organization, anyway; what harm was it if he used his Riku Replica to stop the plot?

Not that that idea had lasted long, of course. He’d been convinced that Riku needed to be Rewritten…

What was he even thinking? That the Rewrite would pit his Riku against Sora, and thus delay him? That it would be an interesting experiment? He couldn’t remember. But why had he even listened to Larxene? The thought made him want to bang his head against the wall. How could he, who prided himself with being such a brilliant academic, have been so stupid? The Rewrite did nothing more than further Marluxia’s plot. He should’ve realized that the moment Larxene first mentioned it!

“Vexen?”

Vexen turned to Ienzo, slowly. He let out a long breath. “Enough about the other universe,” he said, waving the matter aside. “Tell me how things are going over here.”

Ienzo remained silent for a moment, studying him, as if he were debating on whether or not to press the previous matter any further, despite Vexen’s aversion to doing so. Much to Vexen’s relief, he decided not to, and said: “Well, there isn’t anything incredibly interesting occurring in this universe. There are a few darkness problems, as I have previously mentioned, but otherwise… nothing.”

Of course. Nothing to talk about.

Vexen grimaced before asking: “So what have you been doing, then?”

“Running this bookstore,” Ienzo replied. “What about you? What do you spend your spare time doing?”

“Research,” Vexen said, simply.

Ienzo didn’t seem surprised. “And what are you researching?”

“Well… I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t studying my Riku Replica, so, in a way, I’m researching him,” Vexen said. “I’m also studying the Namine of that universe, who is a Replica, which I believe I mentioned… and I’m studying the relationship between my Riku and that Namine. I was _going_ to start research on Joseph and Toby—and the other Experiments, to an extent—but that hasn’t gotten far.” He sighed. “Though, what I really need to do is figure out a better way to organize my research notes. They’ve all just been going in my pocket…”

“I think I can help you with that. Hold on a second.” Ienzo got to his feet and left the room. He returned a few minutes later, a three ring binder in hand, which he promptly handed to Vexen. “Will that do?” he asked.

Vexen nodded. Any form of organization was preferable to keeping his notes in his pockets. He fished his notes out and started sorting through them. “You don’t mind if I do this now, do you?” he asked, as Ienzo sat back down on the couch.

Ienzo shook his head. “No, I don’t mind at all. Can I still talk to you while you organize, though? Or do I have to wait?”

“No, I don’t see why I won’t be able to multi-task,” Vexen said. “What was it you wanted to ask? Or say?”

“You did say that Namine was a Replica in your universe, did you not?”

“Yes. Twice I believe.” Vexen frowned at his notes. He appeared to be missing one. He distinctly remembered writing a report about Riku’s possible feelings for Namine. Well—he’d written several of those by now, but there was one particular one he was looking for, and it was missing. Where had it gone?

“But how is that possible?” Ienzo asked. “How can there be a Replica of someone who otherwise does not exist?”

“She was crafted entirely from Riku’s memories,” Vexen explained as he searched his pockets for his missing note. They were empty. He started searching through his notes again, in case he missed it. “At least, I think that’s what it is. I distinctly remember someone mentioning that she was built from the data in Riku’s memories. I’m not sure if there was any supplement.”

“But… memories are a very unstable form of data to work with,” Ienzo said. “You can’t tell me that their Replica Program produced a completely stable Replica out of memories alone.”

Vexen could still not locate the note he was looking for. Blasted thing. Where’d it go? “She’s stable enough to function, that is for sure,” he said, as he started flipping through his notebook. Did he write it in—aha! There it was. Now that he had found it, he could get back to—

Wait a minute.

Namine.

Stable Replica.

Unstable memories.

Memory meltdowns.

Those weren’t caused by an instability, were they? Was that really all this was?

It was entirely possible, but the only way to be sure was to actually _check_ her data—something that they needed full access to the Program to do, if he’d been told correctly. Still, it was something to keep in mind.

“The Replica Program over there seems to be very successful,” Ienzo said, drawing him from his thoughts.

Vexen nodded. “They seem to have slightly more advanced technology, though,” he said. “So I assume their Program’s success finds its roots in that. But I’m not positive.” He placed the next note in a separate section of the binder; this one was about Toby, and not Riku. “I have to admit, though, their Replica Program never ceases to amaze me. Not only did they successfully create a fairly stable Replica purely from memories, they’ve also created around a hundred Replicas—each with their own distinct personality! And the Experiments, too! Combining data from multiple people—why didn’t I think of that?”

“You didn’t have much time to develop the Replica Program?” Ienzo suggested.

“I know that,” Vexen said. “But the thought didn’t even occur to me!” He sighed. “Sometimes, I wish I could speak with Master Vex--” He paused, frowned. Wait a minute…

Ienzo raised his eyebrows.

Vexen laughed and shook his head. “You can tell I spend my days surrounded by Replicas! But I mean the Vexen of their universe. I wish I could ask him about their Replica Program—no one is going to know it better than him.”

“He might come back, you know,” Ienzo said. “ _You_ certainly did.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Vexen said, slowly, as he turned the thought over in his mind. He decided he’d think about that later, and returned his attention to organizing his notes.

 

 

**FOUR**

During the time in which it took for him to finish organizing his notes, Vexen told Ienzo all he could about what was going on in the other universe—everything from the Organization (which he surprisingly knew little about) to Riku’s relationship with Namine (which he didn’t go into detail on, for fear of boring Ienzo). In return, Ienzo explained a bit about what was going on in this universe, though it wasn’t much. However, Vexen did learn that Kairi and Namine (along with Sora and Roxas) no longer shared a body—though this was something he was already aware of, for the most part. 42 had been working on a way to separate them, and given the way time flowed, it seemed very unlikely that they had yet to be separated. Vexen had asked purely for clarification’s sake.

“So what happened to everyone else from the Organization?” Vexen asked, now, as he settled back into his seat on the couch.

“Xehanort’s dead, as you know,” Ienzo said. “And Xigbar… I actually think he’s still alive.” He made a face. “Xaldin’s gone…” Ienzo paused, and was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. “Lexaeus is… he’s gone…”

“Xehanort?” Vexen asked, his voice just as quiet.

The name alone asked a million questions.

Ienzo merely nodded in response, a bit stiffly.

Vexen closed his eyes for a brief second. Oh Lexaeus…

“Saix is dead,” Ienzo continued. “Axel survived. No surprise there.” He chuckled slightly, though it was hollow. “Demyx… started a band and is traveling the Worlds. If I’m correct… Luxord is his manager.”

Vexen raised his eyebrows at that. Though, this news was as little of a surprise as Axel being alive was. He couldn’t help but wonder if trusting Luxord with munny was a good idea, though… He’d blow it on gambling—then again, knowing Luxord, he’d probably _gain_ more munny gambling than he would lose.

Ienzo was still talking: “I have reason to believe Marluxia and Larxene are still alive, though I haven’t seen either—” he paused. “Are you all right?” he asked, frowning at Vexen.

Vexen was shaking. At the mention of Larxene, it was like his stomach was turned inside-out. “She’s still alive?” he asked, voice cracking slightly. He’d been dreading that news, though he hadn’t realized it until now. Terror was clawing at his chest; not because of her, but because of what she might do to—

Was that _anger_ he was feeling, along with the terror?

“Larxene?” Ienzo spoke slowly, concerned. “She came back like the rest of us, and—what is wrong?”

Vexen slowly gripped the arm of the couch, trying to steady himself. It didn’t do much good. “I’m… angry,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt anger. I’ve felt frustration, yes, and annoyance, certainly. Anger is like a mix between the two, but much, _much_ stronger.”

“You’re analyzing your emotions, Vexen,” Ienzo stated, plainly.

“Yes, I- I just…” he faltered. “I don’t want to admit I’m angry at her,” he said, finally, voice quiet.

“Why not?” Ienzo was surprisingly calm. Well, not surprisingly. This was just like him. Completely calm; a perfect contrast to the turmoil currently raging in Vexen’s heart. “It’s Larxene. You’ve never liked her.”

“But this—” Vexen swallowed. “This is a different kind of anger. I’m… scared, along with the anger.”

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. “Scared of her?”

“Of course not!” Vexen snapped. He turned away. “I’m scared- scared of what she might do to—” He caught himself, shaking his head.

“To your Riku?” Ienzo finished.

“You know?”

“I was there…”

“Right.” Vexen had grown so used to him and Riku being the only two who knew of such things that he’d forgotten. He sighed, and then frowned. The air around him was… cold. He grimaced, knowing very well that was his own fault, and started focusing on getting himself calmed down.

“Vexen?” Ienzo said.

“I know. I’m working on it…”

 _Emotions are such funny things,_ he thought to himself with a nervous laugh. _One mention of Larxene, and I suddenly can’t control myself._

“And the couch?” Ienzo asked.

Vexen cringed and slowly moved his hand away from the couch. After a second he glanced down, though he had a feeling he knew what he would find there. Sure enough, the arm of couch was coated with a thin layer of ice.

“I’ll… do something about it before it melts,” he assured Ienzo, rubbing his head.

“Has this really got you _that_ worked up?” Ienzo seemed slightly amused by all this.

Vexen ignored the amusement. “I just…” he said, sighing. “I don’t want her to—” No. It was more than that. He tensed, hands clenching into fists. “I’d do anything to make sure she does not touch him, does not harm him, does not go anywhere near him again!”

The anger that caused the outburst quickly faded and was replaced by embarrassment. Vexen buried his face in his hands, kneading his forehead. What was with him, lately? First he was throwing himself in front of Joseph; now he was making hasty declarations about wanting to keep Riku safe.

“Vexen,” Ienzo said. He was still perfectly calm. “He’s in another universe. What are the chances of her finding him?”

Vexen sighed. “Slim,” he replied, slowly.

“And the chances of her even caring enough to go looking for him?”

“Highly unlikely.”

“See? There is nothing to worry about.”

Vexen took a deep breath, and nodded. Ienzo was right. Riku was safe. He took a few more calming breaths, then placed his hand back on the arm of the couch, pulling the ice beneath his fingertips back into himself.

“I’m sorry,” he told Ienzo. “I’ve been acting—”

“Like you always have,” Ienzo interrupted. “There’s no apology needed.” He chuckled slightly. “Are you done panicking, then?”

Vexen found himself smiling, too. “For now,” he replied.

Ienzo was about to say something more, but a large _clunk_ resounded from downstairs. There was a brief pause, and then several more _clunks_ followed. Vexen raised his eyebrows. It sounded like a stack of books just fell over.

“Pi?” Ienzo called, warily.

“Aw nuts!” someone who was certainly not Pi whined. Vexen groaned.

“Joseph.”

Ienzo was already on his way down the stairs. Vexen paused only to shove the binder with his notes in it into his pocket, grateful that the pockets of Organization Cloaks were practically endless.

Downstairs they found Joseph and Pi arguing about the _correct_ way to put the books where they belonged. Joseph _swore_ he remembered how they went before he’d knocked them down, but given Pi’s protests, he obviously didn’t.

“What are you doing here?” Vexen asked, frowning at Joseph.

Joseph glanced over at him, misjudging where he was placing the book in doing so. He ended up dropping the book, which fell to the floor with another _clunk_. Pi cringed and quickly picked up the dropped book, before shooing Joseph away and restacking the books himself.

“I came to make sure things were going alright!” Joseph told Vexen, grinning.

“Weren’t you in trouble?”

Joseph’s grin faltered. “Well, uh… As long as I go home in the next few minutes, 29 shouldn’t notice I’m gone.” He shrugged. “I mean, three minutes here is about a minute there so… unless 29 decides to come check on me, like, _now_ … Which he shouldn’t! He just left.”

“Right.” Vexen made a mental note to tell 29, when he did find out (because he would find out), that he had played no part in this. “Is Toby here?”

Joseph shook his head. “He was still napping, and there wasn’t enough time to wake him up if I wanted to leave before 29 noticed.”

Good, Vexen supposed. That was one less child to deal with. Now he just had to deal with Joseph.

“Well,” he said, slowly. “Everything’s fine, so shouldn’t you be heading back?”

“Not immediately,” Joseph replied. “Given the time difference, I could spend at least five minutes here before it became an issue.” He frowned, then started drawing with his finger in the air—it appeared he was working out a division problem. “Yeah, five minutes at least, and a good fifteen minutes before I’m stretching it.” He seemed proud of himself.

“Regardless, Joseph, shouldn’t you leave now?” Vexen asked, trying to reason with the boy. “So that you _definitely_ don’t get in trouble.”

Joseph stared. “I just explained that all. 29 won’t notice I’m gone. Did you miss that?”

“I think,” Ienzo said. “What Vexen was _trying_ to say, is that you should go home just to be safe. On the off chance that 29 _does_ come to check on you, and finds you missing.”

“But that’d take all the fun out of it!”

Vexen and Ienzo exchanged glances.

Vexen sighed and slowly made his way over to Joseph. Maybe he should come at this from a different angle. “Ienzo and I were talking,” he said in a hushed voice.

“I’m not stopping you!” Joseph replied, his voice equally as hushed. “You can get back to that—don’t mind me!”

Vexen grimaced. Or that could _not_ work. “It’s just, it’s not like you absolutely _need_ to be here,” he tried.

“Well… no, but… hey!” Joseph lit up all of a sudden. “Maybe I could help! Explain things! I’m sure Ienzo wants to know _everything_ about what’s going on in our universe.”

“I’ve already explained everything,” Vexen said.

To his surprise, Joseph’s response was shock, and not disappointment or a more likely reaction. “You have?” Joseph asked. “Have you _seriously_ been here that long?”

“What… are you talking about?”

“Oh,” Joseph laughed slightly. “Well, it’s just that everything going on in our universe is all… complicated. Ridiculously complicated. Like, if someone turned it into a book, I bet it’d be as big as this one.” He pulled a fairly large book off the closest shelf, nodding certainly. He flipped through its pages and said: “Five hundred pages. Or longer.” He nodded again and put the book back. “There’s no way you could’ve explained _all_ of it!”

Vexen stared, dumbfounded.

“I… got the most important bits,” he said.

“Well-” Joseph began, but then paused, his eyes firmly fixed on something behind Vexen. “Ienzo?” he called, sounding as if he was suppressing some emotion. “There _are_ supposed to be Heartless here that look like _that_ , right?”

Vexen turned around, and was glad to find that the Heartless weren’t in the immediate vicinity. They were outside—Joseph had spotted them through the window. The Heartless, however, were nothing like he had ever seen before. They were similar to Neoshadows, but similar to Possessors in the very same way. He studied them a moment longer, but didn’t see the Emblem on any of them; they were Pureblood.

“Yes,” Ienzo said. “Those Heartless have become common around here for some reason.” He was moving towards the door as he spoke. “Vexen? Do you mind helping me get rid of them before they cause any damage?”

“Uhm.” Vexen blinked a few times, not used to being asked such a question. “Yes, certainly.” He paused, glancing back at Joseph. “Will we need Pi’s help?”

“I suppose not,” Ienzo replied, slowly.

“I wasn’t programmed for fighting,” Pi added.

“Right, then you can keep an eye on Joseph,” Vexen said. “Make sure he stays out of trouble, and out of harm’s way. 29 would kill me if he got hurt.”

Pi agreed, seeming actually happy about this arrangement. Vexen figured he was just glad to have an excuse not to fight. Joseph didn’t seem nearly as happy about the arrangement, but Vexen ignored him and followed Ienzo outside.

“What kind of Heartless are these?” Vexen asked, as he summoned his shield.

“They’re called Poolers,” Ienzo replied, as he paged through his lexicon.

“Poolers?”

“Yuffie named them,” Ienzo said, as if that alone was explanation. Vexen wasn’t quite sure who Yuffie was—the name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t remember actually _meeting_ anyone by that name—so it didn’t suffice as an explanation for him. Thankfully, Ienzo noticed his confusion and explained further: “See? Their main attack is forming a pool of darkness beneath their victim that will send said victim to the Realm of Darkness. Watch your step, by the way.”

Vexen quickly moved away from one of the pools that was forming near to him. The pool didn’t seem awfully large, but he figured that the Heartless were capable of making them as large as need be. If they weren’t, then they wouldn’t be such a threat.

“Remind me again, who Yuffie is,” he said, encasing one of the Poolers in a block of ice. He smiled slightly; he’d always enjoyed doing that.

Ienzo finished his attack—was that an attack he’d stolen from Riku?—and turned to Vexen. “A girl who lives here…” he said, sounding maybe a bit confused. It was hard to read other’s emotions while in battle, though. Too many other things going on.

“Should I know her?” Vexen asked, smashing the encased-in-ice Pooler with his shield. That shattered the ice, and did a decent amount of damage to the Pooler.

“She’s part of Hollow Bastion’s Restoration Committee,” Ienzo answered, directing his attention to attacking another Pooler. “But… I suppose you weren’t around here long enough to meet any of them.”

“I don’t believe I was,” Vexen agreed. He dealt another blow to the Pooler he was dealing with, killing it. They didn’t appear to be very strong; no stronger than your average Heartless, anyway. Why exactly were they a—ah. He had made to attack a different Pooler, only to have it sink into the ground like a Shadow would, easily avoiding the attack. That could definitely be frustrating, if they did it frequently.

Still, with the rate Ienzo was attacking them—that appeared to be an attack stolen from Axel…—Vexen was lead to believe they could be very bothersome. He quickly stopped focusing on analyzing them, though, and went back to attacking. Attacking needed to be his first priority. If he could not attack and analyze at the same time, then he needed to stop analyzing.

He swung his shield at the nearest Heartless—another Pooler, though he could see a few Mega-Shadows starting to appear—hitting it one, two, three times. The attack was a familiar pattern, and without giving it much thought, he caused an icicle to shoot up from the ground below the Heartless, sending it into the air. He stared at it for a second, before trapping it in a block of ice. The weight of the ice caused it to crash to the ground; the impact killed it.

“And you said you couldn’t fight,” Ienzo called.

Vexen rolled his eyes. “Heartless are completely different than Replicas who are Programmed to fight and fight _well,_ ” he said, throwing a glance at Ienzo. Ienzo was in the middle of mimicking the attack Vexen had just preformed. Vexen couldn’t help but chuckle. “Stealing my attacks, too, now?”

“What do you want me to do?” Ienzo replied. “Besides, it looked effective.”

Vexen couldn’t argue with that. He returned his attention to battle, attacking a Mega-Shadow that was nipping at his heels. It was only two shield bashes before it was dead. He took a glance around the area, surveying what Heartless they were up against, and how many of them there were. There wasn’t a terrible amount of Heartless, and most of them appeared to be Poolers. The only other Heartless around were the Mega-Shadows he noticed earlier, and now a few regular Shadows. All Pureblood, he realized, finding it amusing. It wasn’t every day—

Wait a minute.

All Pureblood.

That meant…

“The DCP,” he breathed, eyes going wide in horror.

“ _Really?_ ” Ienzo asked.

“What?” Vexen stared. It was a good thing that most of the Poolers were gone by now and the rest of the Heartless in the area were basically harmless, because he had stopped paying them any attention.

“Do you know how long it took me to figure that out? I mean, granted, it was only a couple of minutes once I really started thinking about it, but _you_ come to that conclusion in four seconds flat?”

“And?” Vexen couldn’t see what the problem was. Was Ienzo honestly upset that he had figured it out this quickly? “It was a bit obvious when I took the matter of Pureblood Heartless into account—” Wait. He was getting sidetracked. “That is beside the point, Ienzo! This is _not_ a minor darkness problem!”

“I realize that—” Ienzo began.

“You said you were only having minor darkness problems!”

“Yes, Vexen, I know what I said,” Ienzo sighed. “I didn’t want to worry you, alright? We have it handled.”

“Are you sure? Because, if you need—”

“Vexen,” Ienzo interrupted. “Can we worry about the Heartless for now, and then continue this discussion later?”

“Yes, yes of course,” Vexen said, though Ienzo had already directed his attention back to killing Heartless. Using an attack that was most certainly was stolen from Lexaeus, he destroyed all the Heartless in his proximity.

Vexen watched, thinking he should probably use a large attack that would kill multiple Heartless, too. But did he know any attacks like that? It was hard to think when his mind was reeling with sudden worries about the DCP. Why hadn’t he remembered it sooner? Now that he’d realized what was happening, he could _taste_ the building darkness in the air. It shouldn’t have taken him until he noticed that all the Heartless were Pureblood for him to remember about the DCP.

But, more importantly, why had Ienzo not mentioned it? And then write it off as nothing once it came up?

_He said he didn’t want to worry me…_

_But why wouldn’t he want to worry me?_

_Do I worry that much?_

_Besides, I could_ help!

A different thought occurred to him, then, and he frowned.

_Does he not want my help…?_

Ienzo’s actions almost made it seem that way. He’d written all darkness problems off as nothing the moment they came up, and then quickly directed the conversation in a different direction when Vexen brought the DCP up. If Ienzo only was avoiding it to avoid worrying him, then Vexen supposed it was understandable. But one could think that he was avoiding it for other reasons…

_You’re being ridiculous, Vexen!_

_Ienzo probably just directed his attention back to the Heartless so quickly because they are a threat. An admittedly small threat, at the moment, but a threat nonetheless. It would be logical to take care of them first, and_ not _argue about—_

_Why did I just use the word ‘argue’?_

_Were we arguing?_

Vexen’s foot slipped, suddenly, distracting him from his thoughts. He quickly moved before the pool of darkness forming beneath him could grow large enough to consume him. Heartless. He needed to focus on the Heartless. He couldn’t just stand here and lose himself in his thoughts.

He located the Pooler that had attacked him, and sent and icicle at it. The icicle somehow did enough damage to kill it. Deciding not to question it, he turned his attention to the rest of the Heartless.

Now: what had he been planning on doing? He’d been planning on doing something before he’d been distracted with his thoughts. Oh, that’s right! A large attack. He needed a large attack; one that would harm multiple Heartless at once. He knew one of those… he had to… aha!

He focused his energy into the ground, causing icicles to sprout up and trail about the area. The smaller Heartless died the moment the ice touched them; all except one who’d decided to sink into the ground and make itself invulnerable. On the larger Heartless, the attack wasn’t quite as effective: damage was done, but none of them died. Thankfully, Ienzo unleashed another of Lexaeus’ attacks, and it finished the job.

Vexen took another glance around the area. All the Heartless were gone. Well, all except that one Shadow, who now pulled itself up out of the ground. Ienzo mimicked the Poolers’ main attack and formed a pool of darkness under it, sending it away. Vexen doubted it was gone for good, but at least it was gone for now.

He turned to Ienzo, banishing his shield. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?” he asked. “Because, if you do, I can stay here…”

“Vexen, we have it handled, I promise,” Ienzo said, firmly, closing his lexicon.

“I’m serious, though,” Vexen said. “They won’t miss me in the other universe. In fact, Riku’d probably be happier if I was gone. In fact—”

“Vexen,” Ienzo interrupted. “Do you _want_ to help _that_ badly?”

“Well,” Vexen faltered. “I just—”

He paused, as a pair of arms was thrown around his waist. He slowly glanced down to find that Joseph was clinging to him.

“You can’t go!” Joseph cried, and then paused. “I mean, you can’t stay here! I’d miss you too much!”

“Joseph,” Vexen began, but Joseph wouldn’t listen.

“You’re the only one who likes to talk to me! I mean, yeah, I’ve got Toby to hang out with now, but I can’t ask him questions about stuff! You’re the only one who I can ask questions! 29’s gotten tired of answering my questions, and even when he does answer, his answers aren’t nearly as much fun as yours.”

“Now, Joseph,” Vexen tried. It was no use.

“ _Besides,_ Vexen,” Joseph said. “We need you!”

“Now, that’s not true,” Vexen said, gently prying Joseph off of him. “I’m sure the Rebellion would do just fine without me.”

“Nuh-uh!” Joseph insisted. “We could use all the help we could get. And I’d _miss you!_ ”

Vexen turned to Ienzo.

“I’m sorry, Vexen,” he said. “But it seems I have no say in this. You can’t stay here. Joseph would miss you too much.”

Vexen didn’t fail to notice the slight smirk on Ienzo’s face as he said this. He turned back to Joseph.

“Shouldn’t you have gone home already?” he asked, at a loss of what else to do.

Joseph grimaced, paling slightly. “Well… it’s… only been five minutes!” he said, quickly. “I mean, I’m pushing it, but I might still be able to get back before 29 notices!!”

Vexen snorted. 29 would’ve noticed regardless of when Joseph returned, despite what Joseph claimed. “I’m not covering for you,” he informed Joseph, plainly. “This is your mess to deal with.”

Joseph sighed dramatically. “I know…”

Vexen turned to Ienzo. “I suppose I should see Joseph home,” he said, “before he gets himself into any more trouble with 29.”

“So, goodbye, then?” Ienzo said, raising his eyebrows.

Vexen shrugged.

“Oh don’t worry!” Joseph punched Vexen in the arm. “You can come see Ienzo whenever you want! Or he could come to our universe! Though… I don’t think he’d like it very much in our universe…” Joseph frowned. “There’s a lot of crud going on over there.”

“Joseph!” Vexen scolded.

“What? I only said ‘crud’!” He was silent for a moment, before adding: “Don’t tell 29… kay?”

Vexen and Ienzo laughed.

“Come on, Joseph,” Vexen said. “Let’s go.”

Joseph nodded and formed a dark corridor. “Bye Ienzo!” he called, darting through.

“Goodbye, Joseph,” Ienzo called. He nodded at Vexen. “So will you be coming back?”

“Another time, I might,” Vexen said. “But, for now; goodbye, Ienzo.”

“Goodbye, Vexen,” Ienzo said. He raised his hand in a partial wave, and smiled. “Keep out Joseph out of trouble, will you?”

Vexen laughed. “I can’t make any promises, there!” He started through the dark corridor, but paused. “You be careful, alright?”

Ienzo rolled his eyes. “I’ll be fine, Vexen. Stop worrying so much.”

Unable to think of anything to say in response, Vexen stepped through the dark corridor.

 


	16. (DI) A Forgotten Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ven has something of a nightmare (it's not, really, a nightmare) and remembers some things about Vanitas. (Ties into [ch141 of Dead Inside](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10978008/chapters/26532672), a little bit.)

_Fear._

Ven sat up straight, breathing heavily. Aqua shifted beside him, but didn’t quite stir from her sleep. Ven just sat there, his half-asleep mind not quite comprehending what was going on. He certainly didn’t understand why there was this terror choking him—like it had crept into his mouth and blocked his windpipe.

Why was he suddenly so _scared?_

 _Had it been something I was dreaming about?_ he wondered, slowly.

He couldn’t remember what he was dreaming about, but he got the fleeting sense that he’d been drowning in that dream.

He clutched himself tightly, crossing his arms over his chest and squeezing his shoulders. It provided him little comfort. It hardly even anchored him to reality.

_“What if I never find him?”_

The thought was not his own.

_“Why can’t this be the nightmare I can’t wake up from?”_

He shuddered, hugging himself tighter.

Something flittered through his mind. A brief glimpse of a… memory? He couldn’t tell. But it must’ve been, because he recognized this night:

_Aqua was smiling, holding up her wayfinder, claiming that they’d be together forever. All three of them._

But where was Terra now?

That, at least, was a question Ven was used to asking—to hearing. But before he could dwell on the familiarity of this—or wonder if what he was seeing might’ve been what was going through Aqua’s head—a different, _stranger_ , image came to him now.

_He was staring at himself. He had his Keyblade bared._

The scene shifted, and now he saw the memory through his own eyes.

 _“You!” he screamed, furious,_ terrified _to see Vanitas here. “I_ killed _you!”_

_“Mmm, no,” Vanitas—was it Vanitas?—said, seeming confused. “I don’t think you did.”_

_But he_ had _killed Vanitas. He remembered that, all too clearly. Sometimes it was hard to forget the feeling of having half your heart shattered into a thousand pieces. That wouldn’t have happened had Vanitas survived._

_So who was this person?_

_And this darkness creeping in around him…_

Vanitas’s laugh still rang in his ears. Ven quickly grabbed at his head, trying to shut it out. No. This wouldn’t happen now. Not now.

_Dark walls surrounded him._

What?

The confusion didn’t last. The laughter continued in his ears, blocking everything out. But it wasn’t Vanitas’s laughter, was it? It was…

_“Please, Master, I’m not strong enough!”_

Xehanort?

He remembered this scene…

 _Neoshadows surrounded him. Xehanort wanted him to fight them. Had he been told to do it now, he probably wouldn’t have hesitated—even if there were a lot of them, they didn’t look_ that _strong. But, back then…_

_He hardly even knew how to wield the Keyblade. This was too much._

_“Don’t do this! Please!” he cried, desperately._

_He shouldn’t have even tried._

The next bit was a blur, which didn’t surprise him. This memory never was quite clear to him.

_A jolt went through his body._

_“I will extract the darkness from within you myself.”_

_Xehanort’s words were the last he heard._

_And yet…_

_“Empty creature from Ventus riven… to you, the name_ Vanitas _shall be given.”_

This was new.

_“Yes, Master.”_

Vanitas’s voice. Emotionless. Blank.

Broken.

_Xehanort laughed._

_Vanitas’s gaze drifted down to where Ven lay—Ven found it odd to see himself laying on the ground, all blank-eyed and wide-mouthed like that. But there was something so familiar about seeing this all through Vanitas’s eyes that it was hard to dwell on it._

A new emotion surged through him.

_Sadness._

_‘Why am I sad?’_

The thought wasn’t his. It was his. It was. _Vanitas._

He was…

_Scared._

_Lonely._

_In pain._

_Angry._

_Disgusted._

_Hurt._

_“I hate you.”_

_Irritated._

_Anxious._

_“Stop it! Just stop it!”_

_Jealous._

_In agony._

_“Why are you still sleeping?”_

_Worried._

Ven cried out in shock. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands, but it was too late; he’d already woken Aqua.

“Ven? What’s wrong?”

“He… was worried about me…” Ven breathed.

His stomach was knotted a thousand ways. The reality of an empathy link that he’d shared but ignored was weighing hard on him. He’d thought for so long that Vanitas felt nothing. Couldn’t feel anything. Wasn’t human enough to, even though Vanitas was born of his own heart.

And yet…

“Who was?” Aqua asked, confused.

Ven just shook his head. He was too shocked. Too stunned. Unable to believe it. He could not make himself speak Vanitas’s name.

“You sure you weren’t dreaming?” Aqua said, smiling reassuringly at him.

“M-maybe I was,” he stuttered.

But it felt too real to be a dream, even if the memories and their emotions were dulled by the passage of time.

He felt awful.

Tears were welling up in his eyes.

Why had he ignored Vanitas’s pain? Hadn’t he felt it just as sharply?

_Could I have helped…?_

That thought was worse than the rest.


	17. DI ch154 from some other POVs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin. I decided to explore the events of DIch154 from a few other povs. Enjoy!

**Vexen**

They were standing outside the computer room, waiting. Axel didn’t seem too worried. Vexen found it hard to care too much. He kept glancing over at Riku, trying to place what was going through his mind.

_“Whatever act this is, just stop!”_

_“When have you ever cared about me?”_

The words stung. Vexen tried not to dwell on them, tried to tell himself that Riku didn’t really mean it, or that they didn’t hurt as much as they did, but that was one of those things that had gotten harder since he’d regained his heart.

Besides, he doubted he’d be able to tell himself that Riku didn’t really mean it, anyway. Of course Riku meant it. If Riku hadn’t meant it—or meant it quite so seriously, or hadn’t meant it to be anything more than stinging words—he wouldn’t have run.

Riku only ran when he was upset and couldn’t handle whatever it was that he was dealing with it.

 _Which likely means he’s hurt…_ Vexen thought, with a sigh.

_Which means… I’ve hurt him._

He didn’t like that thought much either.

But he couldn’t deny it as much as he couldn’t deny the rest of them.

 _There wasn’t anything in Castle Oblivion back then that didn’t hurt Riku._ Vexen tried to comfort himself. It wasn’t entirely his fault.

It only made him feel worse.

_Now’s not the time to be thinking about it, though._

_We have a battle at hand._

He cast another glance at Riku. Riku was muttering to himself, slightly, probably trying to comfort himself, too.

_I hope he listened to what I said, at least. About him not being a failure because he couldn’t beat Axel and all._

It was a pity that Vexen had no way of knowing.

“What are we supposed to do about Axel?” Snapdragon asked, voice quiet. Vexen’s ears perked up. He knew this was the latter half of the conversation he was hearing, and hoped he hadn’t missed anything important.

“Keep stalling him,” Amaryllis said.

“You know, Axel—” 7 took a step forward, raising his voice slightly. “You disgust me.”

Vexen raised his eyebrows. Well then.

_I don’t think 7’s saying that to just stall…_

“Oh I do, do I?” Axel laughed, clearly not fazed. Typical. Insults rarely meant anything to him.

“Yes,” 7 continued, firmly. “You had no right to bring Roxas back.”

_Oh?_

Vexen knew that there were some people who believed this—he himself believed it, to an extent—but he hadn’t been aware that 7 was one of them. Then again… maybe it wasn’t a surprise.

“No one said it couldn’t be done,” Axel said.

“But just because you _can_ do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should,” 7 replied. “You _can_ jump off a cliff. Does that mean you should?”

Axel shrugged. “Depends on the circumstances.”

_And that doesn’t surprise me much either._

“That’s not the point, Axel. The point is you can’t just go bringing Replicas back from the dead willy-nilly.”

“And why can’t I?”

“Why would you?” 7’s voice was cold. Terribly cold. Vexen was surprised that the air hadn’t condensed into ice around him, it was so cold. “Why would you, really? It makes their death meaningless. Yes, you may miss them—of course you miss them, if they were dear to you. You may want to bring them back—who wouldn’t? You may want, more than anything, just to hold them in your arms again. But that doesn’t give you the right to bring them back from the dead.”

And then Vexen understood.

7 wasn’t talking about Roxas.

He wasn’t even talking about Axel.

He was talking about R.

Vexen didn’t know R. He hardly knew 7’s relationship to her, to be honest. But he knew that R had meant a lot to 7. And he knew that R was now dead.

 _And maybe he’s more hurt than disgusted,_ Vexen thought. _He’s hurt, because why is it fair that Axel gets someone he cared about back, when 7 gets nothing?_

_Hurt is a terrible thing._

Vexen’s eyes flickered over to Riku. Everything made a lot of sense.

The doors opened behind Axel, and the first person to step out was…

“Roxas,” Vexen breathed.

_So they actually did it. Actually rebuilt him. I can’t tell if I should be surprised or awed—what can’t their Program do!?—or… worried. Disgusted, like 7, maybe? I’m not sure._

Axel turned and grinned at Roxas—another unsurprising thing— _And another example of what hurt can do to you,_ Vexen thought. _Axel was hurt about losing Roxas. So he went this far to bring him back._

Snapdragon leapt forward, launching himself at Axel. He seemed awfully eager to fight. Vexen flinched away from him, a bit surprised.

His eyes returned to Roxas. Roxas was inching forward, not looking certain of what he was supposed to do. Vexen had a million speculations as to why, but he ignored them and cast another glance at Riku, wondering how he was reacting to all this.

Riku looked about ready to attack Roxas, to be honest. Vexen wasn’t surprised—yet again. Roxas was the easiest target in the room. Of course Riku would go after him, if he was still having confidence issues.

“Hey, hotshot!”

Xigbar.

Where did he come from?

Six bullets—a full clip—were sent at Riku, and he blocked them. Vexen suppressed the urge to rush forward and block the next bullets that came Riku’s way. It was unnecessary, anyway. The next clip of bullets was directed at 7.

Vexen turned his attention back to Riku. He grimaced.

_Oh, Riku, please don’t panic._

_Xigbar isn’t too much of a threat. He’s a distraction more than anything. At least, he will be, right now, as they try and get Roxas away._

Vexen shook his head.

_You need to stop worrying so much about Riku. It’s not like he’s going to get himself killed—not without you noticing, anyway—and there are other reasons why you’re here._

He started to turn his attention over to Alpha, to see what they were doing, but something stopped him. 26 was staring at him. He looked… skeptical. Vexen’s eyes first narrowed, wondering what this was about, but then his eyes widened, as he realized just _where_ he was and _who_ was looking at him and _who else_ was in this room.

_Oh no._

_Here I was, saying that I didn’t want the Organization finding out who I am._

_And I willingly put myself in the same room as Xemnas._

Vexen quickly turned to 7. “How well can 26 tell Vexen Replicas apart?” he asked.

7 frowned slightly. “Fairly well, I suppose. Why?”

Vexen swallowed. “Well, what do you think the chances are of him realizing I’m none of your Vexen Replicas?”

7’s eyes widened, catching on. “Amaryllis—” he began.

He didn’t need to.

The Lexaeus Replica that was with them rushed forward and attacked 26, effectively distracting him from Vexen. Vexen wondered if he’d done so just to distract 26, but then saw Alpha over by 26. It’d most likely been part of Alpha’s plan.

_It was good timing, though._

Vexen let out a sigh of relief.

_Though, how did Alpha get there so fast? Wasn’t he just—_

Vexen turned to where Alpha had just been, and watched as the Alpha who was standing there disappeared. He chuckled slightly. Alpha’d set up an illusion of himself so that no one would notice him sneaking across the room.

“Vexen,” 7 said. “Do you think you could try and help me deflect Xigbar’s bullets? It’s not like we’re doing anything else, and it would help everyone else if his bullets weren’t hitting them.”

Vexen nodded, readying his shield. “Sure thing.”

Of course, it wasn’t like blocking Xigbar’s bullets was easy. Xigbar never seemed to stay focused on a single target and constantly warped about the room, also making it hard to figure out where the bullets were coming from in the first place.

He only managed to block ten or so rounds (a few of which he was certain were meant for him to begin with). He kept Alpha from being shot once, Riku from being shot three times, and managed to block a few bullets that were heading in 7’s direction. 7 had been blocking bullets intended for Snapdragon at the time, so he wasn’t quite prepared to block bullets that were coming at him from a completely different direction, as Xigbar had warped in between the two sets of bullets.

To Vexen’s dismay, he ended up missing the brief fight Roxas and Riku had. By the time 7 notified him of it, Axel was already leading Roxas off. Vexen was focusing on what was happening between Alpha and 26, which was why he missed it.

Alpha had finally resorted to restraining 26 and digging through his pockets, and Vexen watched with mild interest. Of course, digging through someone else’s pockets wasn’t entirely dignified—and he could only imagine how 26 felt—but it was a necessary measure, was it not?

Except…

“Then who does!?”

26 didn’t have the external.

Vexen let out a long breath. Alpha was very unhappy. He was ranting about how he couldn’t understand how this had happened, snapping at every suggestion that Amaryllis or Thistle gave, fuming with every comment 26 made.

Hearing footsteps, Vexen turned to see Riku heading this direction, looking confused and curious.

“26 didn’t have the external,” Vexen explained for him.

“Then who does?” Riku asked.

“I’m not sure,” Vexen said.

 _Of course, I have a few guesses as to_ might _have it._ _Axel doesn’t have it, as Alpha said. Axel_ can’t _have it. But there are still three other people. I doubt they would’ve trusted Roxas with it, and I don’t see Xemnas doing any of the work, which leaves…_

“Looking for this?”

_Xigbar._

Vexen located Xigbar, and saw that he was holding the external, grinning widely. It was just a game to him. It was always a game to him.

Which was why he warped out of the way constantly, avoiding Amaryllis and Thistle, the Lexaeus Replica, and Riku, all before they could attack him or even get their hands close to the external. Which was why he was now hanging over Alpha’s head, dangling the external in front of his face and daring Alpha to try and grab it.

Alpha didn’t take the bait, though.

It was another thing that didn’t surprise Vexen.

_Braig used to pull these stunts all the time, back before we were the Organization, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did so here. Yes, Alpha is just a Replica of Zexion, but I’m sure there are traces of memories inside of him._

_He would know as well as Zexion that it’s pointless to give into Braig’s teasing._

“I could do this all day,” Xigbar called, now on the other side of the room, external safe in his hand.

“Xigbar,” Xemnas said, sternly.

 _Oh dear…_ Vexen thought, but a smile played on his lips.

“Or we could leave now,” Xigbar sighed, dramatically rolling his eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me.” He warped away, done with his games, now that Xemnas had called him out.

Speaking of…

Vexen turned to Xemnas (as he was sure everyone else did) to see what he would do.

Xemnas merely looked around the room once, eyes last settling on Riku.

“Pitiful,” he said, before vanishing.

 _Well, our attempts were rather pitiful,_ Vexen admitted, banishing his shield. _At least he didn’t find out—_

Vexen stopped, noticing that Riku looked about ready to fall over. His eyes were squeezed shut. He’d dropped his blade.

_What the—_

But Vexen understood.

Xemnas had last looked at Riku.

Riku believed that Xemnas had been talking about him.

“Riku!” he shouted, trying to break through whatever might have been going through Riku’s head. He grabbed Riku by the shoulders, tightly, hoping to steady him. Riku only squeezed his eyes shut.

“It wasn’t directed at you,” Vexen told him, firmly. “Xemnas was referring to all of us, because our attempt at retaliation was pitiful. Which it really was. No offense, Alpha,” he added.

“None taken, I suppose,” Alpha said. “We could’ve done better. There’s no denying that.”

“You are _not_ pitiful, Riku,” Vexen continued. “You never have been. And you’ve never been a failure, either.” It needed to be said.

It needed to be.

Because Vexen knew what was going through Riku’s head, and he was sure that “failure” was among the most condescending words.

Riku shoved him away, distancing himself quite a few paces. “ _Stop it!_ ”

He was screaming. Vexen swallowed, stunned, angry, _hurt._

“Stop- stop lying to me!!”

“I’m not lying,” Vexen said. Anger broke into his voice.

“Oh, you’re not, are you?” Riku ran a hand through his hair, clutching it tightly, clearly frustrated. He stared at Vexen in… disbelief. It wasn’t the face of someone who was angry and hateful. It was the face of someone who was betrayed and hurt. “But you always said that I was a failure!”

Vexen’s all-too-present heart ached.

“Riku, I didn’t-” he began.

“You didn’t?” Riku interrupted, and he laughed, bitterly. It was a harsh and terrible sound. “Didn’t what? Didn’t _mean_ it?”

“Riku-” Vexen tried, not sure what to say, not sure what to do. He never had to deal with these sort of things. Not on a regular basis. Not enough to be good with them. People yelled at him frequently, of course, but they usually had every right to.

_And Riku doesn’t?_

Of course Riku did.

But that didn’t mean Vexen knew how to deal with it.

Everyone else who was ever mad at him didn’t make his heart ache so.

“So you didn’t mean it, then, when you told Larxene that you didn’t care what she did to me because I was just a failure and meant nothing to you?” Riku demanded, screaming. His voice was cracking. “You didn’t mean it, when you said that I was worthless, because I couldn’t do anything you wanted me to? Because I couldn’t do anything _right?_ ”

_I don’t even remember saying those things to him._

_But to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised._

Vexen closed his eyes.

_There’s nothing else I wish I could take back more._

“Riku, please, I never-”

“No.” Riku’s voice trembled. “No, just- just leave me alone.”

And he ran.

_He ran because he’s upset and hurt and he doesn’t know how to handle it._

Vexen buried his face in his hands and just let out a long frustrated breath. He didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know what to do at all. Riku—especially when he acted like this—sent so many emotions through him that it was hard to keep track of them all.

“Vexen?”

That was 7.

Vexen just shook his head, not really wanting to talk, not wanting comfort, not wanting to have to confront what had just happened.

There was silence. Vexen stood still, fearing what anyone might say.

“You didn’t… really say those things to him, did you?” Amaryllis asked.

Vexen just shook his head again. “I don’t know. I don’t remember. I might have. I’m sure I said something similar.” Good grief, those weren’t tears threatening to come, were they? Mercy.

“That’s awful…” Thistle muttered.

“There’s nothing else I wish I could take back more,” Vexen said. “Believe me. If I could erase any moments from my life, it would be those. Me and Riku would both be better off without them.”

There was more silence.

Someone grabbed him by the shoulder, after a moment.

“Look at it this way.” It was 7.  “Neither of you would be here if it weren’t for those moments. _Some_ good came out of them.”

Vexen laughed, bitterly; it painfully reminded him of Riku. “What good? Riku hating me for the rest of his life?”

_Maybe I should go back to the other universe._

“No,” 7 said. “Riku being in this universe at all. Riku living longer than he originally would have. And… Namine.”

“Namine?”

“Just… Namine. She wouldn’t be here—wouldn’t even exist—if it wasn’t for what happened in your Castle Oblivion, all that time ago.”

Vexen let out a breath. He rubbed his eyes, and then nodded. 7 was right.

“You’re right.”

He swallowed, gently pulled away.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

He headed to his room—the room that had been given to him, anyway—not really wanting everyone to see the tears that were threatening to fall.

 

 

 

 

**26**

“Alright, Roxas,” he said, calmly, bending slightly so he was at eye-level with the boy. Roxas didn’t quite focus on him, but he’d just awoken. You couldn’t expect much from a newly awakened Replica. “We’re going to leave here, and we’re going to need you to fight.”

_Hopefully no one from the Rebellion will attack him. I don’t see why they would. Well, maybe Riku would. He’s Riku, after all._

_Roxas, you better have a decent grasp of the concept of fighting._

“Summon your Keyblade for me, will you?” 26 asked.

Roxas just blinked for a moment, eyes shifting to 26. He stared, a bit blankly. 26 pursed his lips. Well… this couldn’t be good…

He opened his mouth to instruct Roxas farther—he probably just needed more of a boost; everything was still settling in his brain after all—but then Roxas reached out in front of him. In a burst of light, the Keyblade formed in his hand.

Xemnas smiled.

26 swallowed. There was a pit in his stomach all of a sudden. He tried to ignore it. “You know how to fight, right Roxas?”

Roxas nodded, a bit blankly.

“Alright then. Here we go.” He led Roxas to the door and pushed it open.

Roxas stepped into the room, and 26 followed not long after. He set his mind away from Xemnas. He needed to focus on Roxas. Make sure everything was in order. He couldn’t be preoccupied about Xemnas and what could possibly be going through his head right now. He couldn’t afford it.

Axel turned and smiled at Roxas. Grinned, really. Roxas hesitantly looked at him. He seemed a bit confused, still, but he smiled back. The smile was just as hesitant.

_He’s just awakened. It’s alright. Without much of his memories, anyway—I only did get a few in there—he probably doesn’t quite understand who Axel is._

_And… it’s fine. Axel bought it. I think._

It didn’t matter, though. Snapdragon attacked Axel, then, which 26 was silently grateful for. He didn’t need Axel ragging on him about Roxas’s not-quite-complete state. Of course, he’d be able to explain it to Axel—wanting to finish at the Castle and not in CO, along with being pressed for time, were perfect reasons for not returning all of Roxas’s memories right away.

He just wasn’t sure how Axel would react to the fact they’d eradicated Xion from Roxas’s mind and memory.

He wasn’t too keen to find out, either.

26 directed his attention back to Roxas. He hadn’t moved. He seemed a bit—oh goodness, he wasn’t _scared_ was he? Roxas was just looking around, gripping his Keyblade as if it were a lifeline.

 _He’s just awakened,_ 26 reminded himself. _Of course he’s a bit slow. He probably doesn’t even entirely understand what’s going on right now, really._

“It’s alright,” he told Roxas, reassuringly, pushing him forward.

Roxas nodded and took a few steps forward.

26 watched him, intently. He paused after a few steps, scanning the room, probably sizing the Rebellion up. Which was fine. He was newly created, he could take his time fretting about who he thought it best to attack. 26 summoned his shield to him. None of the Rebellion had moved yet—besides Snapdragon, that is.

_I wonder why… they must all be stunned about Roxas._

_Or not sure about what they were doing._

_Either one seems possible._

He smirked.

“Hey, Hotshot!” someone— _Xigbar_ —called. The call was followed by a round of bullets, which were fired in Riku’s direction.

26 frowned up at Xigbar; because, of course, Xigbar was hanging upside down in midair, like he enjoyed doing.

_When did he get here? And where did he come from?!_

_But more importantly—_

26 turned his attention to Roxas, wondering how Roxas was handling the new information; because Xigbar coming out of nowhere was new—and abrupt—information. Roxas seemed to be glancing a bit skeptically at Xigbar, but he must’ve figured that Xigbar was on their side, because he turned his attention back to the Rebellion.

26 slowly turned their direction, too. Alpha and Amaryllis were conversing. 7 was currently dealing with Xigbar’s bullets. The Lexaeus Replica—wait a minute. Weren’t all the Lexaeus Replicas with the Organization? Though… there was that one had gone rogue. Or, apparently, he’d sided with the Rebellion. Anyway, he watched Axel and Snapdragon fight as if he planned on joining. Then there was another Marluxia Replica; Thistle, if 26 remembered correctly. He was looking over at Alpha, probably waiting for orders. Then there was Riku, who was staring straight ahead—26 checked—at nothing at all. He appeared to be… muttering to himself.

And then… there was one more.

A… Vexen Replica.

At least, so 26 thought. Of course it was hard to keep track of all 44 Vexen Replicas, but 26 was fairly good at it. (The only person who was better was 2, who couldn’t forget a face.) It was hard not to be, when you were up to your arms in the Program every day. Or, when you used to—anyway.

This did not look like a Vexen Replica that 26 remembered. Of course, he’d never spent much time around 42. Maybe this was 42? He held himself differently, though. Most Vexen Replicas had at least a few minor mannerisms that were all exactly the same, but this… Vexen had none of them.

_What is going on here?_

He and the Vexen made eye contact. The Vexen’s eyes slowly went wide, and he turned to 7 and asked him something. 26 couldn’t hear what from this far away, but the Vexen seemed a bit panicked.

 _About what, I wonder?_ 26 thought, a bit suspicious.

_It’s almost as if he’s—_

The Lexaeus Replica took a step forward, hefting his axe sword, and then charged straight at 26. 26 quickly brought up his shield to block the attack. Of course, being a Lexaeus Replica, the Lexaeus Replica hit him with so much force that 26 staggered back a few paces.

He staggered right into Alpha.

26 quickly turned around, looking between the two of them. The Lexaeus looked prepared to attack again. Alpha looked a bit smug. 26 glanced over at where Alpha had previously been standing, then looked back to where Alpha was standing now.

“How did-”

“It’s called: ‘form an illusion of myself and have it distract you while I sneak across the room.’” Alpha smirked, and then his face got serious. “Now; where is the external?”

26 brushed himself off. “I don’t have it,” he said, holding himself high.

Alpha glared. Before he could say anything more, three bullets came in his direction. Alpha quickly raised his hand, and in the air in front of it suddenly appeared an exact copy of 26’s shield. It took the bullets.

“Since when did I give you permission to copy my shield?” 26 quipped.

“Who said it was yours?” Alpha replied. The shield morphed and twisted itself until it became something similar to the Lexaeus’s axe sword. “Now-”

Three more bullets came in Alpha’s direction. He blocked them with the axe sword, with a bit of difficulty. He glared over at Xigbar. The Lexaeus Replica, apparently taking that as a hint, charged at Xigbar, forcing him to warp to the other side of the room.

26 laughed. “Now don’t try and be threatening,” he told Alpha. “You can’t even lift that thing!”

Alpha raised his eyebrows, and then the axe sword thinned and condensed. 26’s eyes widened slightly. Alpha’s hand closed around a blade that appeared very similar to Riku’s.

“Can I be threatening with this?” he asked.

“I don’t have the external,” 26 repeated.

Three more bullets were shot at Alpha, and these three hit the ground just in front of his feet, causing him to take a few steps back. “Then why is Xigbar spending so much effort on distracting me?” Alpha spat.

“Because we’re the only interesting thing going on right now,” 26 said, gesturing to the rest of the room. Axel had just managed to push Snapdragon off—possibly with the help of a bullet from Xigbar, but 26 couldn’t tell. The Lexaeus Replica was making his way across the room to Xigbar. 7 and the Vexen Replica that 26 couldn’t recognize were trying to block most of Xigbar’s bullets, and only having a varying amount of success. (To be fair; Xigbar wasn’t shooting consistently in the slightest.) Riku and Roxas were fighting. Thistle was—

Wait a minute.

Riku and Roxas were fighting.

“Roxas!” 26 called, turning and preparing to run to him. Amaryllis got in the way.

26 glared, preparing an icicle to throw at Amaryllis. He stopped, though, when he felt a blade—Riku’s blade, specifically, though Alpha was wielding it—pressed into his back. He slowly banished the ice.

“The external,” Alpha said, sternly.

“I don’t have it,” 26 repeated, yet again. He looked over his shoulder at Alpha, then turned back to Amaryllis. “Now let me past; you don’t want Roxas getting killed, do you?”

“Riku won’t kill him,” Amaryllis said. “Trust me.”

“How do you know?” 26 demanded.

“Because Riku’s just as concerned about Roxas’s life as the rest of us are.” Amaryllis shifted his grip on his scythe, almost impatiently. “I believe Alpha asked you a question.”

“And I gave him an answer,” 26 replied. “What more do you want from me?”

“Nothing,” Alpha said. “I already have the external.”

26 rounded on him, shocked. That was impossible! Xigbar had it!

“How did you get that!?” 26 demanded. “It was-” He paused, then, closing his mouth firmly. Alpha was no longer holding his copy of Riku’s blade; which—along with the sheer impossibility of him having the external in the first place—meant that what he was holding was merely an illusion. “Very funny, Alpha,” he said. “You’re not going to trick me into telling you where it is, though.”

“Fine.” Alpha let go of his illusion external, which disappeared the moment it left his hand. “Hold him.”

Amaryllis grabbed 26’s arms, pulling them behind his back. When 26 struggled, another pair of hands—Thistle—grabbed him. Together they were able to restrain him. 26 pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes.

“Now what, Alpha?”

“Simple.” Alpha took a step forward and slid his hand into 26’s pocket. 26 did his best not to squirm; as having someone else digging through your pockets was never a pleasant experience. Watching Alpha’s face go from determined to shocked to horrified, however, was quite enjoyable.

“I told you I didn’t have it,” 26 said.

“Then who does!?”

26 kept his mouth shut.

“Alpha?” Amaryllis asked.

Alpha pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand. All signs pointed to you having it! It’d be most logical for you to have it, in the first place. Axel _can’t_ have it. He was out of the computer room before you were finished with Roxas, and the external had to have been plugged into the computer while Roxas was processing.”

 _Well, you are right about that, Alpha,_ 26 thought, smiling smugly. They’d won. And Alpha was fun to watch in defeat.

“He did go in and then come back out,” Thistle said.

“But there was a good three minute delay before Roxas came out. There was no way they would’ve stalled for that long. It makes no sense.”

“Unless they were trying to throw us off his trail,” Amaryllis suggested.

_Valid point. I congratulate you, Amaryllis. You’re smart._

_However._

“I’ll go ahead and tell you; Axel didn’t have the external,” 26 said.

_It’s not like it matters if I tell them that, after all._

“Roxas could’ve had it,” Thistle suggested.

“Well it’s too late now; he’s gone!” Alpha snapped.

26 turned to look at Roxas—which was hard to do while still restrained. Of course, Roxas was gone. As was Axel. They must’ve left already. Which was fine.

“Even if Roxas didn’t have it-” Amaryllis began.

“It doesn’t matter,” Alpha interrupted. “The only two people left who might have it are Xemnas and Xigbar. Neither of whom we’ll be able to get it from.”

“This failed…” Thistle muttered.

_Hmph. Indeed it did._

“Now, since we’re done here-” 26 pulled himself away from Amaryllis and Thistle. It wasn’t that hard; they let him go. He dusted himself off. “I think I’ll be going.” And he headed for the doors.

No one stopped him.

 

 

 

**Roxas**

Roxas slowly stepped out of the room. He wasn’t sure if he liked what greeted him. There were a lot of people in this room. All of them had weapons out. He had his own Keyblade, but, really, he wasn’t very confident in himself right now, and didn’t think he’d last long against any of these people.

_I don’t understand what’s going on._

_They want me to… fight?_

The man closest to him turned and grinned at him. The man had flaming red hair and looked familiar… Roxas couldn’t be certain though. Everything was a bit fuzzy. 26 said it would clear up later.

Roxas smiled back at the man, as best as he could; feeling he should. He jumped though when someone else rushed over and attacked the man with a large scythe.

_Axel!_

He felt terrified.

But… no. It was alright. The man—Axel—had it handled. Roxas gripped his Keyblade uncertainly, looking at everyone else in the room, then back at Axel.

_What am I supposed to do?_

“It’s alright,” a voice said from behind him, gently, reassuringly. That would be 26. Roxas nodded and set his jaw. He could do this.

He started forward, blade bared, but no one moved to attack him. No one had moved at all, really, except that one who’d attacked Axel. Roxas frowned slightly, pausing. He studied the people again. Two of them had pink hair and large scythes, just like the man who attacked Axel. There were two more who looked a lot like 26.

 _Replicas…_ something inside of him whispered.

They were all Replicas.

_Am I supposed to attack them?_

_I really don’t understand what’s going on here._

He looked at each of them, again, sizing them up. They all looked determined. They all looked like they could knock him down without much of a second thought. Except… the one at the end. The boy—well, he was about the same age as Roxas. Silver hair. Funny looking blade; all dark and crooked.

He looked different. He looked…

 _About as scared as I feel right now,_ Roxas couldn’t help but think.

_If he’s scared—_

“Hey, hotshot!” someone called, very loudly. Roxas turned to see who it was. It was…

_Xigbar._

The name matched the face, alright, though Roxas couldn’t recall every meeting this man before. Oh well. His memories and everything were a bit off right now. It was fine. 26 said it was fine.

Roxas turned his attention back to the boy with silver hair, knowing that Xigbar wasn’t a threat.

_He looks scared._

_A bit… uncertain._

_Maybe I should attack him. If he’s scared, then he’ll have trouble attacking me. It makes him, at the moment, weaker._

Roxas thought this was a good idea.

He readied his Keyblade, rushed forward, a cry escaping his lips as he leapt into the air and brought his blade down on the silver-haired boy. The boy turned, raising his blade to block, but Roxas could feel him stagger slightly from the force of the blow.

They met eyes for a second. The silver-haired boy looked shocked, but the traces of fear were gone. Roxas pushed his weight into the attack, hoping to break the boy’s defenses before he could counter-attack or regain his balance. Now that he was so close to the boy, the feeling that he was familiar was creeping up on him. Silver hair. Bright blue eyes. A name was bursting within him, but it just couldn’t quite come out.

Roxas backed off. He suddenly didn’t feel like he wanted to be fighting this boy. There were faint traces of a smirk on the boy’s mouth, despite the shock clearly etched on the rest of his face. That smirk said that battle was where this boy thrived, and that if you engaged him, you were in for it.

_But the fear in his eyes—_

_The way he’s holding himself—_

He was _scared._ Roxas wasn’t sure why or what of, but there was no denying the fact that this boy was scared of _something_. Roxas readied his blade, lunged again—

Axel caught him by the shoulder, holding him back.

“Careful there!” Axel said. “Maybe not the best idea to be attacking Riku. Don’t want to get yourself killed, do you? C’mon.”

Roxas just nodded, letting Axel lead him off. His thoughts were spinning.

_Riku._

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Why did that name make him want to get as far away as possible and attack like there was nothing else in the world at the same time? It was like he was scared. He was angry. He was desperate. He was furious. He wanted to—

Roxas closed his eyes for a second, trusting himself to take a few blind steps with Axel guiding him by the shoulder. His brain was beginning to hurt.

He hoped this got better, too, like everything else was supposed to.

 


	18. (NF) Keep smiling, yeah?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph learns the fate of his friends.

29 cleared his throat, slowly pushing open the door. Joseph didn’t hear him. He was too busy with that video game they’d got him just a few weeks ago. 29 studied the screen for a moment, not that he could make any sense of the game. There was a lot of green, though…

Anyway.

“Joseph?” he said, quietly.

Joseph heard him this time, and immediately paused his game so he could turn around.

“Yup?” he asked, grinning slightly.

29 bit his lip. He started to smile and opened his mouth, prepared to blow this all off and just ask Joseph _hey, what game are you playing? What’s it about? Are you having fun?_ But he caught himself. He closed his mouth and steeled his nerve. He had to do this.

 “Um…” 29 made his way over to Joseph, and then sat down, facing him. “Can you… put the game down, for a second?”

Joseph nodded, and sat the game controller down and out of the way. He looked a bit skeptical, if not worried.

“Joseph, I need to talk to you about something,” 29 said.

Joseph’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, I’m not in trouble am I?” he asked, groaning. “What’d I do this time? I stayed here just like you said, I promise! Except that one time I went to Twilight Town… and… that other time.”

29 chuckled, even though it was a bit hollow.

“But other than Twilight Town I haven’t gone anywhere! It’s been boring but I promise I’ve been good—” Joseph paused, noting the look on 29’s face. 29 looked… frightened. And that scared Joseph. A lot. He’d never seen 29 look like this before, and suddenly he wasn’t sure what to expect 29 to say next.

“I…” 29 swallowed, trying to find the right words. “Do you know what Saix has been up to?” he said, finally. That… seemed like a good place to start.

Joseph nodded. He understood that, at least. “Yeah. Taking over the rest of the Program.” He pouted. “And being a jerk about it.”

29 nodded. “Do you… know why I’ve told you to stay in Castle Oblivion?”

Joseph shook his head. “Not… really. I just assumed you wanted to keep me out of trouble while Saix was finishing taking over because things are rough and crazy and you didn’t want me… yeah.” He nodded, now, satisfied with that explanation. (Thankfully 29 understood what he meant.) “Then… we’d go back?” Joseph asked.

“We aren’t going back, Joseph,” 29 said, bracing himself for the worst.

Much to his surprise, Joseph lit up upon hearing that.

“So we’re part of this Rebellion thing now, huh?” he asked, bouncing up and down slightly with excitement. “That sounds like it might be fun! What about—”

“Joseph,” 29 interrupted. He knew what Joseph was going to ask and he couldn’t let him. Joseph needed the truth before he could build up any more hope for himself. “Listen, I kept you in Castle Oblivion for a very specific reason.”

Joseph sat back down, seeing as he’d been nearly on his feet in his excitement.

“Yeah?”

“It was to keep you safe,” 29 said. He closed his eyes for a brief second. Now. He had to tell Joseph _now._

That didn’t make it any easier.

“Saix has…” 29 swallowed, steeled his nerve, “…killed all the other Experiments.”

The light faded from Joseph’s eyes, quickly replaced by horror.

“Wait. What?”

It was like his world had stopped, and suddenly he couldn’t feel anything. He didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. But why would 29 lie about this? 29 wouldn’t lie about this. 29 very rarely lied, _ever._

“So, like, Raymond? And Patrick?” Joseph choked. “They’re- and all my other friends?” His voice cracked. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. Saying it out loud—admitting it—made it so much more real. “They’re… _gone?_ ”

29 just nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak.

“But why would Saix do that!?” Joseph demanded, shaking his head in disbelief.

“He thinks you’re all useless, Joseph,” 29 said, quietly. His voice cracked, too. “He’s wrong. But—”

“But what about their caretakers? Why didn’t they do what you did!?” Joseph’s voice trembled, furious tears spilling from his eyes. “ _Why didn’t they stop him!?_ ”

“Joseph, some of them _tried._ Some of them fought and were killed and then there was no one in Saix’s way to stop him.” It hurt to explain. 29 shook his head, sadly. “No one thought to take such drastic measures, as I did, Joseph. They didn’t think it necessary.”

Joseph stared at him, looking angry, not just upset. “Are you saying some of them just _stood there,_ and _let Saix just-_ just-” His voice was breaking, and he tried his hardest to hold back tears, even though it was much too late to stop them. “Who would do that?”

Joseph clutched his head, fingers curling in his hair. He wanted to scream, but all he could do was sob. He didn’t understand. How could anyone in these worlds be so terrible? Not just like Saix, who went around killing kids, but others, who just _let him_ kill them and didn’t try and _stop_ it.

“Joseph, listen,” 29 began. But it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t ever be enough. He picked Joseph up, ignoring the minor protests that broke through his sobs, and pulled him into his lap, where he _couldn’t_ be hurt.

“It’s not fair!” Joseph cried. “It’s not fair, it’s not fair, _it’s not fair!_ ”

29 held him securely. “I know,” he whispered. “I know it’s not fair. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“What about you?” Joseph mumbled. “Did you do anything about it?”

29 sighed, and rested his chin on Joseph’s head. “I kept you safe. I kept you alive. And, Joseph I wish I could tell you I did more. I wish I could tell you I fought to keep everyone else safe, but I didn’t. I did what I could, but I could only do so much. If I had died, there would be no one left to take care of you.”

Joseph slowly stilled, his sobs stopping, for the most part. He was silent for a moment.

“I’m glad you’re still here…” he whispered.

“I am too.”

Joseph laughed, though it was broken. “Glad that you’re here, or that I’m here?” he asked.

 29 chuckled, figuring it best for Joseph to laugh with him. “Both, I guess,” he said. “But I’m especially glad that you’re here. And that you’re safe.”

“Me too.” Joseph frowned, then, realizing something. “But am I safe? Doesn’t Saix want- want me gone, too? Won’t he come after me?”

“Joseph, the likeliness of him actually stepping foot in Castle Oblivion is very slim,” 29 assured him, gently. “And if I think that those chances get any higher—that you are in danger—I will move you somewhere else. Somewhere safer.”

Joseph nodded. “Okay.” His voice was small, like he was frightened.

29 gave him one last squeeze, then eased up on him. He was still holding Joseph, just, not as tightly. “Are you alright?” he asked. “At least, in a relative sense. I know you can’t be feeling too well after hearing that.”

“I guess,” Joseph replied, voice still small. “It’s- it’s a lot to wrap my mind around. And it… it hurts a bit. Knowing I’ll- I’ll never see them again.”

29 nodded, understanding.

“Would you like some ice cream?” he asked.

“Yes please.”

29 smiled.

“Do you want me to go get it and you stay here, or do you want to come with me?”

Joseph looked up at him.

“Is it safe to go with you?”

“Twilight Town should be safe,” 29 said. “As long as you’re with someone.”

“Then I think I’d like to come with you.”

 

**xxx**

 

“Two ice creams, please,” 29 told the storekeeper.

“What flavor?” she asked, smiling politely.

“Sea salt,” Joseph said, automatically.

“Sea salt,” 29 repeated, just in case.

“One second.” The storekeeper turned around and started digging through the freezer. 29 fished into his pocket for his munny.

“Oh, hang on,” Joseph said, once he noticed. He reached into his pockets, too. “I think I’ve got-”

“It’s alright,” 29 said, pulling out the required munny. “I can pay.”

Joseph frowned. “But I’ve got-”

“Joseph, I’m allowed to spend munny on you if I want to.” 29 smiled. “My treat today. Save your WINNER sticks for another time.”

Joseph nodded, and then took his ice cream from the storekeeper. 29 handed over the munny, and took his ice cream, too.

“Do you want to go sit somewhere?” he asked, looking down at Joseph.

Joseph shrugged, already taking a bite of his ice cream.

“Alright, well… come on.”

They headed out of the ice cream shop, and started walking around Twilight Town.

“Oh, wait!” Joseph grabbed 29’s hand and started pulling him along. “I know a spot!”

Within a few minutes, they were seated in a relatively out-of-the way part of Tram Common. Joseph was nearly done with his ice cream, and 29 was… well, about halfway finished. He’d reached that point where it was nearly impossible to get the ice cream off the stick without dropping some.

He carefully took a bite, and managed to _not_ send the rest of the ice cream falling to the ground. However, the ice cream had gotten melty, and a large glop of it fell right into his lap. He sighed. Joseph laughed.

29 shot him a look, and Joseph quieted instantly.

“Sorry,” he said. “That was mean.”

“No, don’t apologize,” 29 said, scolding himself internally. “It’s alright. It’s nice to see you smile.”

“Well, sure, but I shouldn’t have laughed at you…”

“It’ll wash out just fine.”

Joseph licked the last of his ice cream off of the stick, checked it—it wasn’t a WINNER—then started playing with it idly, while he waited for 29 to finish.

“Joseph,” 29 said, after a moment.

“Yeah?” Joseph asked, turning to him.

“Can you promise me something?”

Joseph nodded. “Sure.”

“I know you’re hurt right now, and scared, but promise me, _promise me,_ that you’ll smile,” 29 said. The words came out more urgent than he’d intended them to, but… there was no fixing that. “Once a day. Every day. Please, Joseph. I know this is the worst news you could’ve possibly ever heard, and I know that it’s terrible, and that awful things have happened, and it’s not easy, but I want you to keep smiling for me.”

Joseph broke into a grin. It was a bit uneasy, but that was to be expected after what he’d been through today. “You got it!” he said. “And you gotta smile too, okay?”

29 chuckled. “Of course.”

 


	19. (DI) Two...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joseph and Roxas bump into each other, sometime post DIch155.

Getting ice cream in Twilight Town wasn't much more than nostalgic, to be honest. Roxas  _liked_  the ice cream, sure, but… he and Axel hadn't much time for it, and... And there wasn't anyone  _else_  to go with.

Not that he supposed he minded going on his own, but, if he was going to be doing something on his own, he had more important things to be doing. Going on extra rounds to kill more Heartless took about as much time as purchasing and eating ice cream did, and it was more productive, too.

Regardless, Roxas figured that since he was already in Twilight Town—on those extra rounds and all—he might as well stop and get some. Later. Once he'd gotten all the Heartless. It'd be like a reward!  _Almost_  as good as a day off, not that he knew what to do with a day off if he were to get one.

"Roxas!" someone called.

He paused, recognizing the voice. Ah… it'd been a while since he'd seen Joseph. Though he shouldn't be surprised, given Joseph was here getting ice cream often enough. It was a surprise they didn't run into each other more often, honestly… but maybe it was good that they didn't.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you, kid," he said, gruffly. "We'll both get in trouble."

All association with the Rebellion was forbidden. At least he could say it was Joseph who initiated the conversation.

Joseph looked up at him, a look of resignation in his eyes. He slowly reached into his pocket. "Then we won't talk," he said. He handed Roxas two WINNER sticks.

Roxas frowned at them. "Thanks," he said. "But I don't need—" He looked up, but found that Joseph was already gone. "…two."


	20. (DI/CE) Axel, you're in the wrong universe again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku's fighting Heartless during his semi-forced stay in Hollow Bastion, and runs afoul of some trouble. Good thing Axel's here to, uh, help. (Happens near-immediately before chapter 167 of Dead Inside.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of the (admittedly few) Can't Escape sequences that would have been better going directly into Dead Inside but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ WHATCHA GONNA DO

If there was one thing you could count on while staying in Hollow Bastion, it was the Heartless. Even if they didn’t show up until the third day into his stay here, they still showed up. And there were a lot of them, and that meant battle.

Not that Riku minded. He’d take fighting Heartless over just about anything.

Except, maybe, spending time with Namine, of course. But that was sort of given.

 _Though, there are chances I might not be able to spend time with her again,_ Riku reminded himself, his mood darkening quickly. _That’s why I’m even staying at Hollow Bastion for a week. To see if I’m causing her meltdowns._

He swallowed, driving his blade through a nearing Armored Knight to distract himself from that thought. That was _not_ what he needed to be thinking about right now.

He scanned the area, trying to see what everyone else was doing. Leon was helping Aerith out with the Heartless she was dealing with. Yuffie was making her way out of the house at a very slow pace, shuriken dangling by her side, clearly exhausted. It was fairly early in the morning, though. He couldn’t really blame her. Cid was… coming his way.

“Riku, the Heartless tend t’ be worse down by the Bailey,” Cid said, driving his spear through an Armored Knight that was in his way. “D’you mind—”

“No,” Riku replied without hesitation. “Where exactly am I heading, though?” He didn’t know how to navigate this town _that_ well.

“Oh, jus’-” Cid sighed. “I’ll show you the way.”

Riku nodded, and followed Cid.

It didn’t take them long to get to the Bailey. It was, for the most part, a very ruined part of town, with the path on the right leading up to what looked like a Castle, and the path on the left leading down to who knows where.

There were quite a few Armored Knights in the area, but Riku launched himself at the larger flying Heartless instead. He wasn’t quite sure what they were called, but they were basically a larger version of the Red Nocturne. Their fire attacks were a pain, but Riku was able to kill them in just a few combos apiece. It wasn’t long after that he and Cid finished off all the Armored Knights.

“Alright, now what?” Riku asked, fingers tightening impatiently around his blade.

“Jus’ wait,” Cid said. “There’ll be more.”

“There’s more over there,” Riku said, pointing to an area off in the distance. “Should we—”

“The main priority is keeping them away from the rest of Town,” Cid answered before he could finish. “So we don’ need to worry ‘bout them unless they come this way.”

“Yeah, but, why wait for them to come to you?” Riku started off.

“Now, Riku!” Cid called, stopping him. “I don’ really think—”

Riku turned back to him. “Look, if it bugs you that much, you can stay here. I’ll be fine on my own. Really.” And he started off again before Cid could argue. Since Cid didn’t follow after him, he assumed that was that.

He was ambushed by Neoshadows almost immediately, but they weren’t hard to take care of. Neither were the rest of the Heartless in this area. Well, the Armored Knights and small flying Heartless that kind of looked like buckets weren’t. The large green round Heartless—which he thought were called Morning Stars—were a bit harder to get rid of. They were large and strong, which meant it took quite a few more hits before they’d eventually die.

With that area cleared, and more Heartless ahead of him, Riku kept going. The next area was a trail through a ravine. Of course, the trail was on the walls of the ravine, which meant there was something of a drop.

Three Morning Stars appeared. Riku launched himself at the first, taking care to keep his back to the wall of the ravine, so he could see where the ledge was. He landed one, two, three hits and jumped back.

Or, he tried to jump back. The second Morning Star came crashing down next to him, making him lose his balance mid-jump. He landed, stumbled out of the way before it could nearly crush him again. The third Morning Star hit him with a spinning attack, knocking him back before he could finish recovering.

He flew back a few feet before hitting the ground and—

Wait a minute.

Wait.

Crap.

He was skidding off the edge.

He fumbled for a handhold, fingers digging into the dirt. He was able to hold on, but that didn’t stop gravity from pulling the rest of him of the edge. He yelped in pain as weight of his own body wrenched his shoulder out of place.

He swore and dug his fingers in harder.

He was going to fall.

There was no way he was going to be able to hold on with his shoulder hurting like this.

He banished his blade—he didn’t even know why he was still holding onto it—and tried to grab onto the ledge with his other hand, but that just made his shoulder hurt more.

He swore again.

The very, _very,_ distinct sound of Heartless dying reached his ears. Okay. Good. He was saved.

“Cid!” he called. If he could get Cid’s attention, then they could figure out how to get him up. But they better do it soon. His fingers were slipping. The pain in his shoulder was making his vision blur.

Someone swore.

It wasn’t Cid.

They shouted something about vertical dark corridors, but Riku hardly heard it.

Because that was _Axel._

What the _heck_ was he doing here?

_Filthy trai—_

_Shit._

His fingers slipped. He was falling.

This sucked.

Except, before he’d even fallen five feet, a dark corridor enveloped him. He cursed himself for being an idiot and not thinking of that himself, and then landed unceremoniously on the ground on the ravine trail.

He groaned in pain. That’d still been a fall of about four feet. Plus his shoulder—

No. Now was not the time. He pushed himself up with some difficulty, but at least it was only his left shoulder that hurt unbearably. Which meant he could summon his blade again. So he did. His eyes locked on Axel, because, sure enough, it was him.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” he spat.

“Uh, what-” Axel was clearly flustered. Everything in his voice and body language screamed it. “I just saved your _life_!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a traitor.” Riku started to point accusingly at Axel, out of habit more than anything else, but stopped before he’d gotten even halfway into the action. That really made his arm hurt. He bit his lip, stifling the cry of pain that wanted to come out, and let his arm fall back to his side. He’d be sure to… keep it there.

“Thanks to you,” he continued, voice cracking with the pain despite his attempts to keep it even. “We don’t have the Program, and—”

“Whoa, hold on!” Axel raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not that Axel.”

Riku paused, stared at him.

_What?_

“So, what, you’re a _Replica?_ ” he asked, incredulous.

 

**xxx**

 

Axel arrived in Hollow Bastion, right over by the ravine, where all the Heartless tended to be.  He needed to get a darkness reading.  Well, rather, an eyeball of how many Heartless were around.  Cid and Leon were going to come by later and get a reading on Cid’s darkness-tracker, or whatever it was.

Like Axel had suggested, Aerith had gotten Ienzo involved in Hollow Bastion’s restoration, which meant they knew exactly  _why_ all these Heartless were around.  Stupid Xehanort.  When would they be done dealing with his crap?

Probably never, if Axel was completely honest with himself.

It had been a month since Ienzo had told them what was actually going on, with the DCP and all.  Hollow Bastion was on borrowed time.  They were still trying to figure out how they were going to get to the Castle to fix this problem.

Axel looked down.  Something was wrong.  There weren’t very many Heartless.  Well, sure, there were a lot of Heartless, but not as many as there had been two days ago.  What had changed?

Suddenly, Axel heard a battle cry. 

Riku?

What was Riku doing here?

Last Axel had checked Riku was…

He located the source of the sound.

Ah. That wasn’t Riku.

Well, it was Riku.

It just wasn’t Riku.

It was the Riku Replica.

Axel could tell these things.

Which probably meant that Vexen was around her somewhere.  Probably.  Maybe not. 

Just then, said Riku Replica fell off the edge.  Axel winced.  That’s not fun.  He caught himself, but only barely.  His arm twisted in a weird way that could not have been good.  Axel heard the yelp of pain. 

Just then, seven Neoshadows showed up right around Axel.

“Oi,” he muttered.  “I’ve had enough of you.”

He summoned his chakrams and dealt with them accordingly. 

“Ya’ll are so much easier to get rid of when I’ve got Assassins to take care of you,” he muttered, lighting the ground on fire.  Good thing the cloak he was wearing was fireproof.  Axel himself may be fireproof, but his clothes weren’t always.

As soon as the Neoshadows were all gone, Axel turned his attention to Riku.  Somehow, the kid was still dangling there.  Though, he was swearing up a storm.  Then his fingers slipped.

Axel swore.  He wasn’t going to be able to make it back up.

“Form a vertical dark corridor!” he yelled.  “Then drop yourself into it!”

He wasn’t sure if Riku heard him, for the kid fell and no corridor appeared.

“Oh this had better not hurt my heart,” Axel said, forming a corridor under where Riku was falling. 

He hoped that because he was forming the dark corridor to  _help_  someone, his heart wouldn’t take too much damage.  Right?

Riku dropped right in front of Axel.

 _I’m getting better at those,_ Axel thought. 

Riku groaned, probably in pain.  He pulled himself up, summoned his blade, and glared at Axel.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” Riku spat.

“Uh…”  _Excuse me?_ “What? I just saved your life!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a traitor!” Riku bit his lip.  “Thanks to you, we don’t have the Program, and—”

_Oh.  Right.  I’m usually a dirty-rotten traitor._

“Whoa! Hold on there a minute!” Axel put up his hands defensively.  “I’m not that Axel.”

Riku stopped and raised an eyebrow.  “What, so you’re a Replica?”

Axel laughed.  “You’re the second person in this universe to assume that.  The first one being myself.  Or rather, my other self.  No, I’m not a Replica.  I’m not even a Nobody.  I’m technically a Somebody.  From another universe.  Your home universe.  I’ll grant you though, usually I’m a horrible traitor.  It’s a phase.  I’m sure I’ll get over it.  What brought this on?”

Riku stared at him, blinking.  “Uh… Roxas,” he muttered.

“Ah, yeah.  That’d do it.  So, anyway, as you can see I’m not…”

“Man you talk a lot,” Riku growled, raising his blade.  “How do I know you’re not lying?”

Axel was glad his chakrams were already summoned.  Just in case.  But summoning them now would only bring on a fight.  The Riku Replica had anger management problems.  Understandably so, but still…

“You were created by Vexen under Marluxia’s orders as a test for various reasons.  Unfortunately, Larxene kept interfering, which is why your memories kept getting rewritten...”

“Please,” Riku scoffed.  “Anyone could figure that out.  I’m fairly certain the Organization  _here_ can figure that out from the memories they got off of me.  You could just be reciting stuff from that that.”

“Riku, I was  _there_ ,” Axel said. 

It was true.  He was.  Back when he didn’t have emotions.  When he didn’t care.  Poor kid…

_He definitely didn’t see my best side._

Riku took a step forward, his blade still bared.

“Let me tell you something that didn’t go on the record then,” Axel said, smirking.  “Towards the end of your stay at Castle Oblivion, you wanted more strength.  You wanted to be able to take on who you called the “Real Thing” and survive.  You wanted Namine to yourself. So I pulled you aside, and I told you that you could absorb someone else’s energy.  And I took you to Zexion and you did just that.  And let me tell you, that did  _not_ go on the record because  _I_ would have had to file the paperwork for it.  Because I’m a lazy-ass who didn’t want to.”

Riku’s eyes went wide.  He lowered his blade some. 

“That was  _you_.”

“Admittedly, not my best moment.  However, I’m not the traitor you think I am.  Traitor, yes.  Not the one you’re looking for.”

Riku growled.

“Oi! I just saved your life.  Can we stop this?”

Riku lowered his blade the rest of the way.

“Now, about your shoulder,” Axel said, banishing one chakram and digging into his pocket.  Yes! He was wearing the right cloak.

“I have some bandages if you…”

“I’ll have Aerith fix it.”

“That’s fair,” Axel conceded.  “And, if that’s the case.  I’ll probably be going.  Stupid faulty star shard, taking me to the wrong universe…”

_Though, star shards do this thing, where they take you where you need to be going.  And that isn’t always where you thought you needed to be going._

Maybe Axel needed to be here.  To save Riku.

There was a thought. 

“Thank you,” Riku muttered.

“Hmm?” Axel said, turning to the boy.  Had he heard that right?

“For saving me,” Riku said, still quiet.  Axel noticed he was holding his shoulder.  But Axel also knew that he didn’t want help with that.

“It’s what I do,” Axel said with a shrug.

 

**xxx**

 

Riku started to turn and go—he should really have Aerith look at his shoulder—but something made him pause.

“You said- you said your star shard brought you here?” he asked.

Axel nodded. “Right.”

“Which means…” Riku trailed off.

 _Which means anyone else from our—_ that— _universe could come over here whenever they wanted…_

“It was more of an accident than anything else,” Axel said.

Riku nodded. “Right.”

_I shouldn’t be surprised though. Joseph’s gone to the other universe a few times. Nothing stopping them from coming here…_

_Maybe they already have…_

He swallowed.

“I should, y’know, be going,” Axel said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “Unless you want to ask me anything else.”

“Actually, uhm.” Riku swallowed again. His throat was getting tight. “Just. Just one more thing.”

“Shoot.”

“How’s- how’s Namine doing?”

Axel was visibly taken aback by that question. Which was a surprise. How had he expected anything else?

“Um, well,” Axel scratched his head, shuffled his feet a bit. “Uh, she’s fine.” He said, finally. “She draws a lot.”

Riku chuckled. No surprise there.

“She and Kairi are great friends,” Axel finished, with a shrug.

Riku nodded. That was- that was good to hear.

“Um, does she-” He stopped. No. No, he better not ask that. Of course she wouldn’t. Why would she ever mention him? He was the mistake everyone would rather forget about. He was the embodiment of the darkest part of her life. Of course she wouldn’t talk about him. She wouldn’t even want to think about him.

He squeezed his shoulder slightly, biting his lip to avoid crying out. But the pain anchored him. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. All it did was make him feel sick. Or was that the pain that was making him want to puke?

“Does she what?” Axel asked.

Riku shook his head. “Is she… she happy?” There. That was a safer question.

“Yeah.”

“Good. She better be.”

Axel laughed.

Riku couldn’t help but smile, too.

“What about you?” Axel asked.

“Me?” Riku raised his eyebrows, a little surprised. Axel was asking _him_ , if he was, what, happy? Heh. Like anyone would care. Oh well. “Yeah, I’m. I’m alright,” he said, nodding. “I’m in a lot of pain at the moment, though.”

“You should probably go see Aerith about that, then,” Axel said.

“Yeah.” Riku nodded. Yeah, he really should.

“Do you want me to, I don’t know, pass a message on to her or something?” Axel asked.

Riku shook his head. His heart wrenched. “No,” he choked. “No, you don’t- you don’t even have to mention me.”

If she didn’t want to think about him, then she probably didn’t even want to remember him.

It was better this way.

“I’m gonna. Go have Aerith look at my shoulder.” Riku said. He turned then, before he could see Axel’s response, before he could convince himself that asking any more questions was a good idea. The sooner he was out of this situation—the sooner Axel was gone—the better.

 


	21. (CoM) Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A memory of Riku's. Continuation (of sorts) of Riku's nightmare in DIch168, though, like, hindsight makes me less certain it makes sense? Anyway, enjoy Larxene being terrible.
> 
> (For double pain, please check out [this relevant song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfTtJmCkfrs))

"Aww, what's wrong?" she called, trying to milk as much discomfort and pain from him as she possibly could.

He didn't say anything. He shouldn't say anything. Why would he want to? He'd just had his heart ripped in two, and then Larxene decided he needed to be punished. There was nothing to say. No more to do.

He didn't even want to try and get up.

Or stop his screams.

Or his tears.

He was too broken at this point to do anything.

"Y'know she was lying, right?" Larxene continued, calmly, no laughter to her voice. No malice. Nothing.

It almost made him believe her.

"It's all Namine's good at doing, so I wouldn't fuss too much over it. She's a witch."

"She is  _not!_ " he roared, the action automatic. Reflexive. He pushed himself up, enough to glare at Larxene, though his arms were jelly and it was hard to even keep himself more than three inches off the ground.

"Deny it all you want!" Larxene laughed, shrugging. "Pretend she's the girl you're dying to keep safe. The girl you  _love_. I won't stop you. But you've seen it, now. This is how she really is. A manipulative little witch."

"She. Is.  _Not!_ "

He couldn't help himself.

He was on his feet, throwing himself at Larxene, anger coursing through his veins. It. Wasn't. True. It couldn't be. He wouldn't  _allow_  it.

Of course, Larxene caught him by the upper arm, throwing him off balance, stopping him before he could do her any harm. She held him there, his feet dangling a few inches from the ground.

"Careful there," she warned. Surprisingly, the anger was absent from her voice.

He stayed very still, breath caught in his throat, trying not to struggle, knowing it wouldn't end well.

"Deny it all you want," Larxene repeated. "But you're still her perfect little weapon. Her knight. Not that the princesses ever fall in love with the knight, do they? They fall in love with the hero that rescues them."

His heart was pounding in his ears.

He wasn't the hero.

Sora was.

"I think I'll let you off the hook," Larxene said, suddenly, dropping him. He crumpled in a heap, heaving, trying to hold onto his stomach. "It's not like you can help it. She's the one at fault here, not you."

He wanted to puke.

He wasn't her hero.

He never would be.


	22. (DI) In which we see Yuffie finding Riku, from Yuffie's POV - ch170

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it says on the tin.

_Ah! Heartless!_

Yuffie watched Riku summon his blade and start attacking. Right. Okay, he could do that, and she'd stay here, hidden. But… he'd hurt his shoulder, hadn't he? But which one… Shoot.

 _I'll jump in if he looks like he's having trouble,_ Yuffie resolved.  _I don't think he'll be happy otherwise._

He didn't appear to be having any trouble, though. Typical. He cut through one of the Neoshadows without a problem—

_Wait a minute. Why did he—_

She went rigid with shock, as a terrible, gut-wrenching,  _terrified_  scream left Riku's mouth. He'd gotten hit but a little Thunder. He should've been able to shake it off—everyone else could. But instead he screamed. And collapsed. And he didn't move, except to curl in on himself.

_What is he—_

_Why-_

Yuffie had no idea, and wasn't sure if she wanted to know, either. Seeing Riku like this scared her a little. He'd never seemed so vulnerable. So broken. He still hadn't moved.

 _How can a little Thunder do_ that _to him?_

She shook her head, bringing herself back into focus. The remaining Neoshadows were closing in on Riku. She tossed her shuriken, aiming for the yellow Heartless first. Those seemed like more of a threat… at least to Riku…

She didn't want to think about what getting hit by any more Thunder would do to him.

The yellow Heartless dead, and the Neoshadows searching for the threat, Yuffie hopped down off the roof she was hiding on, and threw her shuriken at them. It took her a second, but soon they were dead, too. She rushed over to Riku, dropping her shuriken and casting a Cure on him just to be safe. He still didn't move.

"Riku!" she shouted, shaking him. He had large scratches across his chest and back, obviously from the Neoshadows. But that didn't explain why he was still out. "Riku!" she shook him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's nothing more, but like, nothing interesting happened between this and how the scene continues in DIch170, so,


	23. (DI) It couldn't be true

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A scene I never had the courage nor entirely the reason to put in Dead Inside, even if I got more explicit about these things as time wore on. Happens during the week Riku stays in Hollow Bastion, sometime after ch167 but before ch172.
> 
> content warning for self-harm

Riku’s eyes scanned the pages of his book, not exactly reading it anymore. His brain was too distracted. He took the words in, but didn’t process them, and he couldn’t recount the story to you if you asked him to.

He chewed his lip, hard, savoring the pain. It was a distraction. Kept his thoughts from straying towards _her._ He ran his tongue over his lips, tasting blood. Right. He pursed his lips together, hoping to hide it before the blood could trickle out of his mouth or anything. It was just broken skin on his lip… it shouldn’t bleed too much… right?

Of course, that meant he’d have to find another way to distract himself. There was only so much damage he could do to his lip…

He moved so he was holding his book with one hand, and then reached over to his bad shoulder. He curled his hand into a fist, pressing his knuckles in the dent between his bones. Then he pushed, _hard,_ sharply, being quick about it. He pursed his lips tighter together to avoid crying out.

It wasn’t ideal. But at least the pain kept him distracted. He tried to direct his attention back to the book, not that it was any easier than it had been before. He wiped the blood off his lip and wiped his hand off on his pants. He should avoid getting blood on Aerith’s book…

In fact, the less she knew, the better.

Except…

Except she was sitting right next to him. How’d he missed that?

He glanced over at her, quickly, but ended up looking back in a few seconds. His heart was pounding. He can’t have seen that right…

Except he had.

Her eyes were wide with horror, mouth open slightly, hands clenched together. She’d seen. She knew. But that wasn’t even the worst bit. The worst bit was the look she was giving him now—like her heart had torn in two.

He closed his book and got to his feet, heading up the stairs.

It couldn’t be true.


	24. (DI) What DID you two talk about last night?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon and Aerith talk in the aftermath of DIch175. It's not that he minds calling Riku family of course... he'd just like to know how they got there.

“So… what _did_ you two talk about last night?” Leon asked, as he picked a plate up out of the sink and started drying it off. Aerith looked up at him, wryly. She hadn’t exactly _asked_ for his help with the dishes.

“Well…” she said, slowly.

“I mean, I get if it’s private,” he added. “I’d just like to know how it all lead to… _family._ Not that- not that I _mind_ calling Riku family, I just…”

“He doesn’t have one,” Aerith explained.

“He’s got—”

“He’s got _Namine_. That’s it.”

Leon was silent for a moment, as he put the plate away. “What about… Sora and Kairi?” he asked.

“He hasn’t seen them much for the past… couple of months,” Aerith said, then shrugged. “I mean, I don’t know. I just know they’re friends. And I can _assume…_ but I can’t just sit and hope someone else will—” She trailed off, letting out a long breath, clearly worked up about the matter.

“It’s… more than the fact Riku doesn’t have a family, isn’t it?” Leon asked, as he took the next plate from Aerith.

“It’s…” she sighed. “He doesn’t have _anyone_. Namine aside, of course.”

“Not even in Castle Oblivion? He’s been staying there for—”

“He’s stayed because he feels like he _has_ to. And from the sounds of it, he doesn’t think very highly of the people there.” She set a now-clean glass in the sink next to her, seeing as Leon still had his hands full with the plate. “In fact, he thinks very _lowly_ of most of them.”

“Right.”

Aerith sighed.

“I guess… I just wanted him to know _someone_ cared about him,” she said. “Or… I don’t know. I can’t- I can’t _explain_ it, Leon. You weren’t there. You didn’t see him. You didn’t…” She trailed off, sighing again.

(The thing was… Leon hadn’t _felt_ how Riku’d clung to her, like he was scared to death that if he let go then everything they’d discussed—everything she’d offered—would vanish.)

Leon opened his mouth to speak, but Aerith was talking again.

“It was like… he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that I was worried about him,” she said. “He just gave me this blank stare, and then- and then he told me he didn’t _deserve_ it!” She laughed, in disbelief. “And he couldn’t even tell me _why_ he thought that, just that he knew and- and I just wanted to… offer him a place where he’d never have to feel like that again. Where he’d never feel like he was worth nothing, or that no one cared about him. I wanted to offer him a place where he’d always be loved and- and _this_ is the only place where I can guarantee that.”

Leon looked at her, long and hard. She wiped her brow, a little frustrated now.

“And, I guess I should’ve talked to everyone about it,” she said. “I mean, it’s your house too, and you’re my family too, but it was just—”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to complain,” Leon assured her.

“But you were all so… I don’t know… about it. This morning.”

Leon shrugged. “Well… it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere, that’s all. At least, to us, anyway.”

“That’s true…” Aerith admitted.

“It’s something mom would’ve done, anyway, so I wasn’t too surprised,” Leon continued, picking up the glass Aerith had left him a while ago to dry. “Just wondered how it came about. If you’re really worried about it, then you should tell Cid and Yuffie what you told me. I don’t think Cid’s going to have a problem with it, and Yuffie… is probably going to find something to complain about regardless of what she feels on the matter.”

“I don’t complain!!” Yuffie shouted.

Aerith turned in her direction, a little shocked. Yuffie was sitting at the table. Probably had been sitting at the table for a while.

“How long have you been there?” Leon asked.

“I heard most of the conversation,” Yuffie said.

“Oh,” was all Aerith could say.

“So… you promise you aren’t going to give Riku too much grief if he stays over more often, right?” Leon asked, looking past Aerith so he could make eye-contact with Yuffie.

Yuffie just shrugged, folded her arms across her chest, leaning back in her chair. “I gotta give him a little,” she said with a smirk. “What sort of sister would I be if I didn’t? But, no, I won’t be _too_ mean to him. I’m not _cruel._ ”

“No, you’re not,” Aerith said, satisfied.

Leon slung the towel over his shoulder, and reached up to put the glass away in the cabinet. He paused, did a quick count, and… yup.

“We missing a glass?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Aerith didn’t even hesitate with the response.

“Did… uh, Riku drop it?” Leon asked.

Aerith laughed, much to Leon’s surprise.

“Did he tell you he dropped them?”

“…yes,” Leon frowned. “He didn’t?”

“He… threw them,” Aerith said, smiling to herself. “Smashed them against the floor—I told him to, though.”

“Why’d you tell him to break our dishes?” Yuffie asked.

“Because it was a less harmful way to take out his frustration,” Aerith explained. “And it’s not like it’ll cost too much to replace them—I’ll have to do that later today…”

“Not necessarily,” Leon said. “Unless you _plan_ on having company over within the next few days.”

Aerith thought about it for a moment. “Well… no…” she admitted, and turned away, covering up a yawn.

Leon sighed. “Did you get any sleep last night?” he asked.

“Uhm…”

“That’s a no!” Yuffie said.

“Maybe… you should go take a nap?” Leon suggested, looking at Aerith.

“The dishes—”

“Yuffie can help me finish.”

“I—” Yuffie began.

“Yuffie can help me finish,” Leon repeated, throwing her a look.

Yuffie sighed, but got up. “Yeaaah, I can help,” she said, sliding into the kitchen and snatching the towel off of Leon’s shoulder. “But you gotta wash!”

Leon turned to Aerith again.

She sighed.

“Okay. If you insist…”


	25. (DI/CE) the BIG crossover!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've waited ages, now we finally get to see major characters from both my universe and magik's interact, fuckin finally. Also like, Repliku and Namine interact finally, too. Contains spoilers for [All the Pieces](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6772185/1/All-the-Pieces-Lie-Where-they-Fell), sorry. Was mainly done for Fun, which is why the amount of actually plot relevant things that happen in here is mmmmm not a lot! It's got some stellar Vexen character development squirreled away at the end, though.
> 
> Also this is where Vexen drags Riku to at the end of DIch179, and leads directly into DIch185.

It was peaceful that morning on Destiny Islands. Namine sat on the Paopu tree, drawing. Riku stood next to her, doing his best not to distract her because he knew how annoyed she got when her sketching was interrupted. Behind them, Sora and Kairi were training. 

Namine heard someone hit the sand.  She reached out with her mind to get a sense of who it was, though she knew looking up would actually be easier. 

She was presented with three distinct images of someone getting a face full of sand as well as a picture of Vexen.  She glanced up, frowning and then gasped.  Riku, slightly worried, followed her gaze. He raised his eyebrows in shock. Kairi, also noticing something was up, paused, and Sora nearly hit her. Before he could apologize, she pointed and he turned, and then frowned.

Riku, or rather, the Riku Replica, was kneeling on the ground, clutching his shoulder. 

 _The one Axel said he wrenched…_ Namine thought.

Slowly, Namine sat her sketchbook down and got off the tree. Within a few seconds, everyone else got the idea, and they all rushed over to the boy on the shore.  Namine held up her hand to slow them down.  He had just flashed into dark mode. 

He looked up and his eyes latched onto hers.  His look of confusion changed to a smile, but then he frowned again.  His eyes went wide and he reached out…

Only to bring his arm back in again.  He winced in pain.  And then swore.  Namine pursed her lips.  At least everyone else had stopped keeping pace with her.  They’d all stopped somewhere along the beach. 

“Are you…” she began.  But she didn’t finish her question.  She was mostly positive that he was  _not_ okay.  She wasn’t even reaching out towards his memories, but she could feel them pounding in her head.  It was a familiar feeling.  And one she very much didn’t like. 

She knelt down beside him.  Well, beside was relative.  There was about five feet between the two of them.  Enough to give him space, but close enough that they could hold a relatively private conversation. 

“Give me ten seconds,” he said gruffly.

“I… okay.”

She watched him mouth the numbers.  He looked up at her. 

_Parallel universe._

His mind was screaming it.  That and,  _Dammit Vexen._

Under other circumstances, Namine would have found that amusing. 

“Do you need me to look at your arm?” Namine asked quietly.  “Axel said you wrenched it.”

He looked up at her, shocked.  “He… he mentioned me?”

Namine nodded. 

“Wha—what’d he say?”

“That you were fighting Heartless and you fell off a cliff.  He was really proud of himself that he saved you.  But, your shoulder…”

“It’s fine,” he said, almost automatically.

Namine raised an eyebrow.   _Sure_ , she thought.   _Of course it’s fine…_

Not.

“Did he say anything else?”

Namine shook her head.  “There wasn’t much to say, I don’t think.” 

“Yeah…”

Namine repositioned herself so that she was sitting cross-legged in the sand.  Pants had benefits.  She stared off blankly into the ocean.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other three.  Riku stood in front of Sora and Kairi, a frown clearly evident on his face.  Sora was trying to peer around him.  Kairi stood patiently, her hands poised to cast… probably a Cure from the looks of it. 

“I confess I already knew you were alive,” she said quietly. 

“How…?”

“I ended up in your Hollow Bastion once.  Though, it was Sora’s Shadow who was actually the one who made me realize who you were.”

He looked right at her.  “When?”

Namine frowned.  Time was a weird thing and she knew that, so trying to pin it down to the month—or even the year—was pointless.  “It was before your Kairi would have left the islands,” she said. 

“A month ago then, at least,” he said. 

Namine nodded.  It had been about three since that point.  She shook her head.  The Shadow had said such awful things…

Riku walked over.  Namine tensed.  This could go one of several different ways…

But Riku was able to sit down right next to her and  _he_  said nothing. 

Namine opened her mouth to say something— _anything—_ but nothing came out. 

“Oh please don’t…” he began.

 _Please don’t cry,_ Namine finished in her head. 

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked.

“Not before I…” Namine began, but her voice caught.  She cursed internally.

“Namine…” Riku began.

“No! I have to say this and it will get said,  _now_!”

Both of them looked at her. 

She took a deep breath. 

“There are things, that I wish I could have told you, back in Castle Oblivion,” she said, looking at him.

He didn’t want to meet her gaze.  No real surprise.

“Your feelings,” she began.  “About how you…”  _Loved, cared, was willing to die to protect me…_ “Loved me.  They were real.”

Now he made eye contact with her. 

“I’m not trying to start something now.  But I want you to know, that they weren’t lies like Larxene said.  They were real.”

“But  _you_ said they weren’t real,” he argued.

“I lied.”  The irony of that statement hurt.  “I had to tell you otherwise, that you didn’t,  _couldn’t_ , love me because it would only end badly for both of us.  You have to realize that.”

He said nothing.

Namine sighed.  “I cared about you,” she continued.  “So much.  I wanted to protect you but,” she paused, nearly laughing.  “But you were so quick to protect me that I never got a chance.  And I wished you wouldn’t be so determined! Every time you got in trouble, I couldn’t help but think just how expendable you were to them.  And…”

And she wasn’t.  But she couldn’t even say it.  It was too much. 

The look he gave her was one mixed with shock and disbelief. 

She could feel Riku behind her, but he sat there, silent and still.  Waiting. Assessing.  Like he always did.

“No… you didn’t… you couldn’t have…”

“I cared about you,” she repeated.

“But did you love me?”

Namine winced. 

“My answer is ‘no’, but hear me out on why.  At the time, I was a Nobody.  I had no heart.  I had… I had no emotions.  Well… okay, that’s a lie, I had enough emotions to care about you and be upset every time Larxene…”

Her voice caught again.  Oh.  There were so many things that Larxene had done…

He grunted.

“But I didn’t have the capacity to love.  Not like that.   _You_ , however, did.  You were a Replica, created from the data of someone who  _did_ have the capacity to love like that.  Vexen never intended those sorts of emotions to happen, but they did.”

“Did you love Sora?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

Namine shook her head.  “No,” she said, chuckling.  “Again, I had no heart.”

“Did he love you?”

“Oh, he thought he did,” Namine said.

Namine heard a sharp intake of breath that was definitely Riku’s.

“ _They_ made me.   _She_ made me.  I had no choice.  But I set that right again when I had the chance.  It took me a whole damn year but I did it.  Sora has no recollection of Castle Oblivion and he’s very happy with Kairi…”

She looked over at them with the corner of her eye.  They were sitting halfway down the beach, sort of looking at them.  And by ‘sort of’, Namine meant that Sora was staring and Kairi was probably telling him repeatedly not to be rude.

He snorted.  “Sora and Kairi…” he muttered, shaking his head.  Then he frowned.  “A…  _year_?”

“We have reason to believe this universe runs faster than the one you went to,” Namine said.  “And I think we’ve just proven it more.  How long has it been?”

“Nine months,” he said, almost uncertainly.  “Time passes weird in Castle Oblivion.”  
Namine snorted. 

“One last thing,” she said.  “That I have to say.  And then you can go.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“When you and him,” she said, nodding her head at Riku.  “Went off to fight, I secretly wished that both of you could somehow make it.  And I am glad you did.”

“Me too,” he said, his voice almost wistful now.

“Are you happy?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“Yeah,” he said, stuttering a little.  “Are you?”

She chuckled.  “Yeah.”  After a moment, she added.  “You can leave now, I suppose.  If you don’t want to stay here.”

He raised an eyebrow.  “Do you  _want_ me to leave?”

She shrugged.  “Whatever you want to do.”

“No, I- I think I’ll stay.  Vexen dragged me here for some stupid reason and I might as well let him get whatever it is he wanted to do out of the way so this doesn’t end up happening  _again_.”

Namine snorted.

He looked around.  “Where’d he go, anyway? I want to…I don’t know. Punch him in the face or something. I was in the middle of something when he decided he was gonna drag me here.”

Riku snorted that time. 

“They can come and sit down, you know,”  _he_  said, looking over at Sora and Kairi.  “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”  Almost as if to prove it, he phased back out of dark mode. 

Namine looked over at the other two.  Kairi nudged Sora and the two of them came over and joined them.  Sora kept looking like he was going to say something, but no question actually came out.  Kairi just looked content to listen for the moment. 

 _He_  sighed.  “I was having such a nice day,” he muttered.

Namine wanted to ask him what that was about, but her mind was having trouble forming more coherent thoughts. 

“So… what happened to you?” Riku asked.

“Well, you killed me,” he began.  “Except, you didn’t kill me.  Some guy showed up, saved my life, told me he’d drop me off in a parallel universe and I’d get a ‘second chance at life’ and all that poetic stuff…”

“Do you know who it was?” Sora asked.

“No clue.  Never mentioned a name.  And I saw him maybe once after that—and the subject of his name never did come up.  He might’ve been avoiding it.  Anyway.  He dropped me in a parallel universe.  I met Sora and Kairi there, we became good friends.  No surprise.”

“Heh, no surprise,” Sora agreed. 

Riku nodded. 

 _He_ continued his story.  The events of Castle Oblivion that he recounted sounded oddly similar to the events of Castle Oblivion that Namine remembered.  Though there were subtle differences. 

“I almost wish I hadn’t killed their Vexen,” he mused.  “The Replica Program went over to Saix when he died.  And  _that_ didn’t end well.”

Namine thought about mentioning that they already knew how that ended, seeing as they’d ran into Joseph a couple of times.  But she didn’t want to interrupt. 

“Wait, what about Lexaeus?” Riku asked. 

So much for not interrupting.

 _He_ frowned.  “Huh.  I… never saw him.  Haven’t seen him.  Ever.  I have  _no clue_ where he is—all I’ve seen is a few Replicas.  And, ah, ahem,  _killed_ a few of his Replicas.”

“That’s weird,” Riku mused.  “You’d think the Organization would be keeping better track of him.”

 _He_ shrugged.  “He could’ve just not been in Castle Oblivion.  I haven’t seen  _everyone_ from the Organization.  I don’t think I’ve run into Luxord yet.  Or Xaldin.  Or Demyx.  So, it’s entirely possible I just haven’t seen him.”

“Organization members aside, what happened next?” Sora prodded.

Namine chuckled.  Oh, Sora.

He thought for a moment, then grinned.  “Namine.”

Against her better judgment, Namine prodded, just a little…

And was presented with images of herself.  Except, they weren’t her.  This was his Namine.  She smiled.

He’d already begun his story about how Marluxia thought it would have been a good idea to convince him to work for them by using Namine as leverage.  About how she was created from Riku’s memories. 

Namine found the whole situation incredibly ironic. 

“What’s she like?” she asked, tentatively.  She had an idea, but she wanted to  _know_.

“Namine?”

“Who else!”

“Oh, well, uh.  Uhm.  She’s… she’s different than you.  She—uh.  She talks more.”  His face flushed red.  “Though, maybe that’s not a good example… because.  You talk.  Obviously.  I just—you didn’t use to… talk… ah…much.”  He licked his lips nervously.  “I… uh… don’t know. She’s nice! I like spending time with her.”

Sora and Kairi started flat-out snickering. 

“What?” he asked, looking right at them. 

Sora started to say something, but Kairi stopped him.  He responded by shoving Riku into Namine. 

“Hello,” Riku said gruffly, steadying himself. 

“Hi,” Namine replied, holding onto his arm. 

 _He_ laughed a little.  “You two? Are-” He laughed again. “Well… uh- good- good for you.”

Though Namine could tell that his mind was reeling.  She was itching to draw roughly five pictures at once at that exact moment.  But she’d left her sketchbook and pencils by the Paopu tree. 

Almost as if Kairi had picked up on that thought, she asked: “Does she draw? Your Namine? Does she draw?”

He nodded enthusiastically.  “Yes! Of course she does.  She’s very good at it, but… not like that’s really a surprise.”

He thought for a moment.  “I can’t think of anything else about her… I mean…”

Sora laughed.

“Hey!” he frowned.  “You try and explain Kairi to me and then try laughing again.”

Sora frowned.  “Well, uh.  You see, she’s… my girlfriend.”

“Sora!” Kairi argued.  “Is that all you can think of?”

“What?” Sora asked, grinning now.  “I mean, it was the first thing that came to mind.  Oh hey, Riku.”  He didn’t stumble over the name, Namine noticed.  “Are you and Namine... like… I dunno…”

“He’s trying to ask if you two are together, I think,” Kairi finished. 

 

 

**_Chapter break_ **

 

“He’s trying to ask if you two are together, I think,” Kairi finished. 

Riku raised his eyebrows, a little shocked by the question. Though, he supposed, he shouldn’t be, with Namine and Real Thing- and with them being on the subject of Sora and Kairi- and—

He coughed. “Well. Uh, we’re- sorta. Ahm…” He cleared his throat again. It’s not that he was uncomfortable. He just… wasn’t sure how to explain it. “It’s uh. There’s been a lot going on.”

He scratched his nose, fixing his eyes on the ground, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. “Ah, what’s happened over here?” he asked, figuring a subject change was nice. “Since I… uh, left?”

“Well, I restored Sora’s memories,” Namine said.

Riku nodded. She’d mentioned. “Why’d it take so long?” he asked. “Unless it was _supposed_ to take a year…”

“No, the Organization got involved,” Real Thing sighed. “But, eventually, we got it all sorted out, and Sora was able to wake up.”

Sora nodded vigorously. “Yeah, and we—me and Donald and Goofy that is—were a little confused at first because _we_ didn’t remember even going to sleep in the first place,” he said. “So we pulled out Jiminy’s Journal, seeing if he’d written anything down, but the entire journal was blank, except for the words ‘Thank Namine’. Not that any of us remembered—”

“We defeated the Organization,” Real Thing interrupted, speaking over Sora.

“—which we all felt- _hey!_ ” Sora frowned, clearly offended. “I was- and- and you left out—”

“We’ve got a lot to cover,” Real Thing said. “We can summarize.”

“Well, fine,” Sora pouted. “Then they came back and we beat them again.”

“Now you left out too much…”

“Make up your mind, will you!?”

Kairi giggled. “Well, if we’re picking up after the Organization was defeated the first time, these two dorks—” she nodded over at Real Thing and Sora “—took their Mark of Mastery—meaning they took a test to see whether or not they qualified as Keyblade Masters.”

“Wait a minute, _you_ can wield a Keyblade?” Riku asked, looking directly at Real Thing.

Real Thing just rolled his eyes and summoned his Keyblade to him. “Yeah.”

“Well, uh, good for you?” Riku chuckled. “Heh, it doesn’t look much different from—”

“I know that.”

Real Thing banished his blade.

“Hey, I like the design!” Sora said, elbowing Real Thing, laughing a little. “By the way, we both passed!”

“Good for you!” Riku said, figuring it was at least polite. Not that he exactly _cared_ about this Mark of Mastery Exam. He frowned a little. “Do you think I can wield a Keyblade?”

“Can you now?” Real Thing asked.

“Nope.”

“Maybe you will someday!” Kairi told him, smiling.

“I’m sure the potential’s there,” Real Thing added.

“Whatever.” Riku shrugged. “It’s not like I exactly _want_ one. I’m just curious. Anyway.” He shifted a little in the sand, stretching his legs out, leaning back. “Where’d you leave off?”

“Ah, we took the exam…” Sora made a face, thinking. “And then… ah… Xehanort Replicas?” He looked over at Real Thing, probably wondering if he was summarizing too little or too much.

Real Thing just shrugged.

“Xehanort?” Riku asked. The name sounded… familiar, but he couldn’t peg a face to it or anything. Then he grimaced. “… _Replicas?_ ”

Sora nodded. “Yeah, they were _awful!_ ”

“But who’s Xehanort?”

“Oh, he’s uh-” Sora thought for another moment. “Ah… you know Xemnas?”

“Of course.”

“And Ansem?” Sora asked. “The Heartless, Ansem.”

“Yeah…”

That was the only Ansem he knew…

“Well, they’re the Nobody and Heartless of Xehanort, respectively,” Sora explained. “And since we killed ‘em in the right order—Ansem first, then Xemnas—it meant Xehanort could come back as a Somebody.”

“And, of course, that happened to the rest of the Organization, and they came back too,” Real Thing said. He leaned back in the sand, too.

“Ahh…” Riku let out a long sigh. “So I’m nowhere near done with them…”

“Guess not…” Sora sounded about as disappointed as he felt. “How many have you already killed?”

“Four. But if they’re gonna come back…”

“They shouldn’t be a problem until Xehanort himself comes back, right?” Kairi asked, moving to cuddle up against Sora. Sora didn’t say anything about it, just shifted so he could support both their weight, one arm around her.

“Well, they weren’t for us,” he agreed.

“That’s good, I guess,” Riku said, hiding a smile. He thought about it for moment. Of course, he wouldn’t need to worry about the Organization coming back right now—he still had to deal with them the first time—but they’d mentioned the Organization had come back here. He _assumed_ that meant everyone. Which meant… “Ah… did Larxene come back?” he asked.

“Unfortunately,” Namine muttered, grimacing.

“Why do you want to know?” Real Thing asked, frowning a little.

Riku paused for a moment, then asked: “Can I kill her?”

“Why would you want to fight her?!” Namine demanded, all but leaping forward at him.

He chuckled, flinching a little at the sand she kicked up with her sudden movement. “Just cuz,” he said, casually.

“Hey-” Sora scrambled to sit up straighter, too, just as urgent. “If you’re plotting revenge- you- it’s probably not a good idea! Revenge never ends well… And it’s not the way to answer this problem, either!”

“So? I don’t care.”

“But-” Namine began, frowned. “Listen, I _know_ how awful she was. But Sora’s right! Revenge isn’t the way to—”

“I only said I wanted to kill her!” he argued.

“You’re lying…” Real Thing muttered.

“I-” Riku shot a glare over at him, growling a little. “I only wanna scare her a little. Then I’ll drive a blade through her gut and be done with it!”

“But what if you can’t kill her?” Namine argued. “What then? Do you _want_ her knowing you’re still alive? I mean, I’ll doubt she’ll hunt you down only if she knew, but if you _attempted to kill her?_ Of course she’d hunt you down!”

“Across universes?” he laughed.

“Do you want to risk it?”

“It doesn’t matter! I’ll be able to kill her.”

“Are you _sure_ about that?”

He nodded. “Pretty sure. Besides, it’s not like I need your permission or anything.”

“Well, no,” Real Thing admitted, grimacing quite a bit. “But I wouldn’t—”

“I’m not you.”

There was silence for a moment. Everyone stopped talking, and all the sound that was left was the sounds of their breathing colliding on top of each other, along with the constant sound of the waves beating against the shore. Real Thing let out a huffy breath, and Sora sighed a little, somewhere between exasperation and curiosity. Kairi definitely sighed with exasperation, however, and Namine made a sad noise. He frowned a little.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Whatever. I guess we can’t really stop you at this point.”

“You’re letting him off that easy!?” Real Thing glared a little.

“Ah… I don’t think we’re gonna be able to talk him out of this,” Sora said.

“Besides, it is his life,” Kairi added. “He can do what he wants with it. Even if that’s doing something stupid and dangerous.”

Sora grinned. “It’s not like we haven’t done anything stupid and dangerous before, right Riku? And we ended up fine, didn’t we?”

“Yeah…” Real Thing let out a long sigh.

Riku smirked.

“You should probably take someone with you, though,” Real Thing said, after a moment. “Just because that’s the smart thing to do.”

Riku granted him that, at least, and looked over at Sora. “Hey, Sora, you wanna go?” he asked.

Sora’s eyes went wide. “Uh- _now?_ ”

Riku shrugged. “Why not? I’m already here.”

“Yeah, but-” Sora grimaced now. “I’m cool with going with you, but I’m not sure if I want to go _now._ ”

“Hmm… good point, I guess.” He chuckled a little, laughing it off out of habit. “Ah, why would I want to, huh? I’d have to find her first, anyway. Sounds like too much work. Besides,” he scratched his cheek. “I do want to head back home sooner rather than later. Namine’s probably getting worried about me…”

“If you need to go back now—” Kairi began.

“No, no,” he said. “I can stay a little longer. Just _not_ long enough to hunt Larxene down. Who knows how long _that’d_ take? Maybe another time.” He shrugged. “Ah, what was it you were saying about Xehanort Replicas?”

It was probably best to change the subject.

“Oh, well, Xehanort made Vexen make them,” Sora said. “There were six of them, and they gave us a lot of trouble.”

“Especially the one in the Badlands,” Kairi added. The two of them had shifted so they were snuggling up against each other again.

Sora growled a little. “Don’t remind me.”

Riku raised his eyebrows. It took a lot to make Sora upset. Let alone _growl._ He hadn’t forgotten that. “What’d he do?” he asked.

“Threw Kairi off a cliff,” Real Thing answered.

He cringed.

“Thankfully, Axel was there to form a dark corridor, or they both would’ve been toast.”

“Sora threw himself off after me,” Kairi explained.

“Hey! Axel saved us!” Sora protested, though he was grinning down at Kairi. “Vertical dark corridors are lifesavers!”

Kairi smiled back up at him, their noses nearly bumping together.

Riku averted his eyes. “Tell me about it,” he muttered, chuckling.

“Oh, Axel saved you too, didn’t he?” Sora asked, looking up.

“Mm.” His hand subconsciously went to his shoulder.

“Do you need me to look at that?” Namine asked, not for the first time.

He shook his head. “I’m sure it’s fine. It’d hurt more if it was out of place again…”

“He dislocated it,” Namine explained.

“Axel mentioned,” Real Thing reminded her.

“I broke my wrist once!” Sora exclaimed.

“When’d this become a competition?” Kairi giggled, reaching up and booping Sora on the nose. He grinned again.

“Roxas broke mine,” Real Thing mused, feeling his left wrist.

“I had all the fingers in this hand broken,” Riku said, figuring he might as well add on. He held up his right hand and wriggled his fingers for emphasis.

“How’d you manage that?” Sora asked.

“Well, I-” He paused. This would take a little more explaining than just… “So, in my universe, the Replica Program’s pretty huge, right?”

“Yeah,” Real Thing said.

“Joseph mentioned it,” Kairi added. “We ran into him once. He ended up in our Twilight Town.”

“He might’ve mentioned that…” Riku muttered. “Anyway, so the Replica Program’s huge, and guess who they have Replicas of?”

“Vexen?” Sora offered.

“Of course there are Vexen Replicas!” Real Thing said, rolling his eyes.

“Who?” Namine asked.

“Larxene.”

Namine gasped a little, and Sora cringed with sympathy.

“Anyway, L—one of her Replicas—stepped on my hand, hoping to incapacitate me,” Riku explained, chuckling. “Unfortunately for her, I can still fight left-handed. Not well, mind you, but…”

He trailed off, glancing in Namine’s direction. She was tracing her fingers through the sand, very clearly trying to draw a picture. He frowned. “Where’s your sketchbook?”

“I left it by the Paopu tree,” she replied.

“Do you want to go get it?” he asked. “I won’t mind. We can sit here and wait for you.”

 

 

**_Chapter break_ **

“On it,” Riku said, getting up. 

Namine looked up at him and smiled. 

“Do we want to wait for him?”  _he_ asked, smirking a little. 

She shrugged.

 _He_ ended up waiting until Riku had returned with Namine’s sketchbook.  And Namine was intently into a drawing a Vexen Replica fending a Larxene Replica off with his shield before he started talking again. 

“So how many Larxene Replicas are left?” Riku asked after a bit.  “It would seem you’ve killed most of them.”

 _He_ stopped for a bit, thinking.  “I’ve killed… seventeen Larxene Replicas.”  He nodded, confirming that statement.  “Amaryllis has killed some and Axel’s killed a couple.  So that leaves nine of them.  Unfortunately, L is one of them.” He growled and shook his head. 

Namine was in the middle of drawing another Vexen Replica behind the first one.  He was attacking with ice.

“Hey, is that in The World that Never Was?”  _he_ asked, sort of looking over her shoulder.

She frowned.  She didn’t like people looking over her shoulder.  But she let Riku do it.  But… She shook her head to clear it.  He had asked a question.

“It’s the Round Room,” Riku said.  “That’s what they call it.  I think it’s otherwise known as the Place Where Nothing Gathers.”

“Huh, when was there… nuh-uh! Is that Vexen?”

Namine blinked, staring at the picture.  “Um, perhaps?”

“Yeah, because that’s L.”

“How can you  _tell_?” Sora asked.

“That’s the worst scowl on any Larxene Replica I’ve ever seen.  That automatically makes it L.  Bet that’s 37.  Vexen did say he got caught and Xemnas might be looking for him…  How is it that you can  _do_ that?”  _he_ asked.  “I didn’t say anything about that.”

Namine shrugged, shaking her head.

“Say what about Vexen?” Kairi was the one to ask this time. 

“Oh, apparently while I was away in Hollow Bastion for a week to do an experiment for Namine’s meltdowns…”

Meltdowns? As in… Namine had a fairly good idea what those were.  They weren’t good.  Why was he…?  She chided herself for stopping listening.

“…and L and 37, who are basically just a set and it’s disgusting, find him and drag him to Xemnas and insist that he’s from a parallel universe.”

“That can’t be good,” Riku said.

 _He_ shrugged.  “It’s not really my problem.”

“Meltdowns…?” Namine said, finally, her mouth catching up to her brain.  Goodness, she was slow this afternoon. 

“Uh…”  _he_ scratched the back of his neck.  “Yeah.  I don’t really want to talk about them.  We’re working on fixing them.  It’s fine.”

“Isn’t that when someone remembers a lot of things at once?” Sora asked.

“You could put it that way,”  _he_ said gruffly. 

Namine was already drawing.  She already knew that  _his_ Namine didn’t have the memories to become a meltdown.  Sure, she had memories, just not the…

Halfway through her picture, she started drawing another on top of it.  And then another.  And then another.  The pictures crowded in her head, all on top of each other.  There was no way she was going to be able to draw them all out.

They were  _his_ memories that she was forced to live through. 

Namine gasped.  She slammed the pencil down and slid the sketchbook off her lap.

Everyone was looking at her.

“Namine…?” Riku began.

 _He_ didn’t look too thrilled either.

“That’s awful.  What she must go through… I… I can’t even…”

 _He_ looked at her sketchbook and winced.

“Why would you try to draw that?” he asked, frowning.

“I didn’t try.  It just happened.  Hang on a second…”

She racked her brain for everything she knew about memories.  What would cause them.  What were the factors.  The memories themselves were clearly not stable… especially since…

“Unstable memories,” she whispered.  And they were her fault.

But could she fix them? Perhaps? Would it even matter?  _He_ seemed to be fine.  It was  _his_ Namine that was having the meltdowns…

“Maybe I could fix them,” she said, her voice louder now.  She looked at  _him_.  “I’d understand if you didn’t want me meddling anymore, especially after all I’ve already done.  But if I could get a look at her memory bank, I might be able to repair or make up for whatever’s causing them.  Program aside.”

Her last words brought a smirk to her own face.  Sometimes she prided herself on the things she could do without the Replica Programs. Fixing Sora and Roxas? The brunt of that had been her.  She’d been learning to take pride in her work when it was for something good.

She expected  _him_ to say no.  That he didn’t want her meddling.  That he was fine living separate lives or something like that.

Except, he actually seemed to be considering it.

“Hmm, well, we’re going to run one more experiment in Hollow Bastion when I get back.  We’re going to test to see if getting her out of Castle Oblivion does anything.”  A scowl crossed  _his_  face and  _he_  cringed.  But he didn’t say anything about that, rather he continued.  “If it doesn’t though, maybe I’ll take you up on that offer.  It’ll be up to her though, too.”

“Of course,” she replied.

“Besides, everything’s a little crazy right now anyway.  What with the Vexen and Xemnas thing, and there’s something going on with Roxas, plus there’s the usual Rebellion stuff…”

“What about Sora?” Kairi asked.

Of course Kairi would ask.

If Namine remembered correctly, Sora hadn’t been doing too hot the last time they were there.

“Uh,”  _he_ said, scratching his head.  “I haven’t seen him in a while.  I think he’s doing better as far as his darkness is concerned.  I honestly don’t know.  Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Kairi said, shrugging.  “I was just curious.”  
“What was that bit about Roxas?” Riku asked.

“Oh, well, so he got killed before the Rebellion started.  It might have been what started it, actually.  No, that was definitely the Program going to Saix.  But Roxas got killed right in there.  Except, apparently they found a way to bring him back.  Axel was behind it, I think.”

“Makes sense,” Sora said.  “They’re friends.”

“But to just rebuild a Replica…” Riku mused.

“Yeah, right?”  _he_ said.  “I’m not sure what I think of it either.  He’s kind of puppet-ish and I don’t really like him.”

Namine shuddered at the word “puppet.”  She also saw the irony of  _him_ using the word. 

“Well,” Sora said.  “I hope everything works out…”

 

**xxx**

 

Vexen, who had, of course, been watching the entire scene, was currently scribbling down notes hastily.  This experiment had two functions: one, to see how Riku would interact with the original Namine, based on his observations with the Namine Replica.  His findings were certainly interesting so far.  Then, it was also to see if the Namine Replica had a meltdown while Riku was away.  Surely if she did, Riku could not be the cause of them, correct? He was in a different universe!

They were just talking about the Rebuilding of Roxas when he was interrupted by a Keyblade being poked into his side.

“What are you doing here?” a boy with blond spikey hair and blue eyes asked.  Vexen took a startled step back, vaguely recognizing the actual Roxas, though he knew full-well what he looked like.  However, he wasn’t able to back up very far, because there was yet another Keyblade being poked into his other side.

He turned around as best as he could and tried to figure out who exactly it was he was looking at.  She looked familiar—she looked a lot like Kairi, actually.  She had black hair, and eyes that looked an awful lot like Sora’s…

He could also tell from the looks of her, that she was a Replica.

“Wait a second,” he said, pausing.  “You’re Replica Number 43!”

The girl, Xion, raised an eyebrow.  “Ex _cuse_ me?” she said. 

“She’s got a name!” Roxas growled.  “It’s Xion!”

“You’re… you’re alive!” Vexen exclaimed. 

“Obviously,” Xion said, her Keyblade inching closer to Vexen’s chest.  “You didn’t answer his question.   _What_ are you doing here?”

“I’m conducting an experiment…”

“Aren’t all of you?” Roxas asked. “Which one… oh…”

He began to lower his Keyblade.  Xion kept hers pointing at his chest.  “What is it?” she asked.

“This is Vexen,” Roxas said.

“Be specific,” Xion said.  “There are… oh…”  She lowered her Keyblade as well.  “You’re the Original one.  Though, can we trust you?”  As she said that, she raised her Keyblade once again.

“I dunno,” Roxas said.  “He did disappear for nearly a year.”

“I never wanted to work for Xehanort, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Vexen spluttered. 

“That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing  _here_ ,” Xion said.  “And why now?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Vexen said.

“If you knew the life I lived, you’d understand that I’d believe just about anything,” Roxas said.

“Well, I was in another universe for that time period…” Vexen paused, something dawning on him.  “Has it really been almost a year?”

“Well, that’s the estimate we get from your Replicas,” Xion said.  “Based on when you left and all.”

Vexen’s eyes lit up.  “How many of them are still around?”

“Too many to count,” Roxas replied. 

Vexen beamed. 

“Man you are weird,” Xion said.  “Axel wasn’t kidding.”

Vexen shuddered, as he was apt to do anytime Axel was mentioned.  “Is… he around?” Vexen asked.

“Axel?” Roxas said.  “No, last I checked he was trying to get Kuin to go on a date with him.”

Xion snorted.  “She’ll never say yes.”

“We’re getting off-subject,” Roxas said.  “You were in another universe?”

Vexen nodded. 

“I don’t want to know,” Xion said, putting up a hand.  “I just want to know why he’s  _here, now._ ”

Vexen hesitantly pointed at the Riku Replica, sitting with the Real Riku, the Real Namine, Sora and Kairi. 

“Why are there two Rikus?” Roxas asked.

“The one in the middle is a Replica,” Xion said.

Roxas looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face. 

“How do you figure?”

“He’s the Riku Replica that Vexen made,” Xion said.  “I saw his project file when I was looking up stuff about my past.”

“You hacked my computer?” Vexen asked.

“You didn’t make it hard,” Xion muttered.  “Your passwords all had the word ‘replica’ in them.  Well, except the one that was ‘scienceiscoolxiii’.”

Roxas laughed.

“Anyway, so that’s the Riku Replica,” Xion said.  “And I’m assuming you brought him here for some dumb reason?”

Vexen puffed out his chest.  “I’m running an experiment to see…”

“And suddenly, I don’t care,” Roxas interrupted.

“You hang around Axel too much,” Xion muttered.

“You’re no better,” Roxas argued.

Vexen started to sneak away from the pair, but he was met with two Keyblades in his back. 

“Really?” he groaned.  “This isn’t necessary.”

“You  _still_ haven’t answered  _why_ you are here!” Xion pressed. 

“I told you before, I’m conducting an experiment,” Vexen said, pointing yet again to the Riku Replica sitting among the others. 

“And I’m thinking we conduct an experiment of our own,” Roxas said, looking between Vexen and the group sitting along the beach. 

He caught eye with Xion and she nodded eagerly.

Roxas hooked one arm around one of Vexen’s.  Xion followed suit with the other arm. 

“This should be interesting,” Roxas said as the two of them began dragging him towards the others.

“What!?” Vexen said.  “Why are you doing this?! You’re interrupting my research!”

“No, we’re just doing a bit of our own,” Xion said. 

She and Roxas shoved Vexen to where he landed (on his face) right in front of the Riku Replica. 

“Hey, everybody,” Xion said.  “Look what we found!”

 

**xxx**

 

Unfortunately, Roxas and… Xion decided to push him forward, so he landed face first in the sand. Vexen grimaced, pushing himself up and spitting sand out of his mouth. This would be the  _second_  time this week that he'd been forced to the ground. At least, this time, no one was holding him down, and he wasn't in front of Xemnas, either.

However, he ended up with another face-full of sand as Riku—his Riku Replica—scrambled backwards and kicked more up in the process. He coughed and pushed himself up the rest of the way, dusting himself off.

"There he is!" Riku laughed (too cocky for his own good, in Vexen's opinion. Always had been). "I knew you were around here somewhere. The experiment went well, I hope."

Cocky and sarcastic… hmph.

"I'm technically not  _finished,_ " Vexen corrected. "I was rudely interrupted." He cast an annoyed look up at Roxas and Xion, not that it changed anything. He doubted they even cared, but he did have his pride to consider.

"Now you know how I feel," Riku said.

Vexen shot a glare at him. If he kept this attitude up… well… Actually, there wasn't anything Vexen could do about this attitude. That didn't mean he liked it.

Riku got to his feet, stretching as he did so. "Anyway. We should probably get going, before Vexen gets started on anything again."

"Yeah! You won't be able to get him to stop!" Sora agreed, laughing.

Vexen thought about being offended. He really did. But… it was true… and… And wait a minute. "How is it that you and Roxas are separate?" he asked, eyes narrowing as he studied Sora. Then Kairi. "And you and Namine? Shouldn't that…" He frowned. "…not be possible?"

"Ah, funny story, actually!" Roxas said. "We're all partial Replicas, now. Ah… one of your Replicas had a separation program all set up."

"It was 42," Namine said. "You'll probably want to ask him about it."

Vexen nodded. "I probably will, this is absolutely fascinating!" He grinned a little, both with the sheer fascination he had about this, and the pride he suddenly felt for 42. "How, exactly, does that—" He paused, noticing that Riku was clutching his head, like it hurt.

Ah… which meant his  _other_  experiment was proving successful.

"Are you okay?" he asked Riku, though, just to be extra sure. This sympathetic backlash he got of Namine's meltdowns  _couldn't_ be a pleasant feeling.

"Headache," Riku mumbled, probably trying to brush it off.

"That looks like more than a headache," Riku—the  _real_  Riku—said, suspiciously.

Vexen saw Namine bite her lip out of the corner of his eye. Clearly she was worried, too. Or suspicious. He'd never been good at reading her emotions.

"Is he  _actually_  alright?" Kairi asked.

"I… think so…" Namine replied, slowly.

"Ah, I think he's right," Vexen said, quickly, getting to his feet. "We should… get back to the other universe."

"Is something wrong with him?" Xion asked, folding her arms across her chest. She was frowning.

"No, but I'm sure he won't want to try and keep this conversation going when he has a headache," Vexen told her, tersely. He opened a dark corridor off to the side and out of the way. "Sorry to cut it short—"

"No problem!" Sora assured him, grinning. "And Riku, you should stop by another time! So we can keep talking from where we left off!"

"Good idea," Riku—his Replica—mumbled, stepping through the corridor, obviously very distracted.

"I'll have to stop by another time myself," Vexen said. "I have more questions about…"

"A lot of things, we know," Riku—the real one—interrupted. (He was going to have trouble keeping them straight in his head… thankfully they were leaving now.)

"Another time, then." Vexen sighed, getting the feeling that no one here wanted to really talk to him, anyway. He stepped through the corridor after Riku, and grimaced. "Ahh… Wrong universe. We're still in…  _this_ Castle Oblivion."

He'd thought this Castle Oblivion was sealed off, still. Though, if he'd thought it through, of course it wouldn't be. Xehanort was gone now, and there were no threats to warrant keeping it—

"Why'd you bring us  _here!?_ " Riku shouted, interrupting his thought process. Vexen jumped a little, and opened his mouth to explain, but Riku kept shouting. "Is this another one of your stupid experiments?!"

"No!" Vexen protested. "I- I just did what I normally do to get back to the other universe!" His words weren't coming out nearly fast enough. "I didn't expect to—"

"You're lying!"

Riku was practically screaming at this point, his eyes wide with fury, hands clenched into fists, his breathing heavy. Obviously, he was upset. Furious. … _scared_?

The thought of Riku being scared was almost laughable, then Vexen remembered where they were standing. It wasn't laughable. It wasn't even surprising. He cursed himself for not thinking the whole where-he-was-forming-a-dark-corridor-to thing through. Even if this Castle Oblivion had been sealed, he shouldn't have tried to go to it. He should've just tried to go directly to the other universe.

Though, he wasn't sure how being in the Castle Oblivion of that universe was any better… but those were thoughts for another time.

"No, Riku, I swear—"

Riku wouldn't hear any of it.

"But why'd you bring me here to begin with? This  _universe?_ " he demanded, his voice strained. He'd gone tense, as if trying to collapse in on himself… to protect himself. "Why- did you just want to put me in front of  _her?_  Watch me as I panicked?!"

"You didn't panic…" Vexen said, calmly.

"Yes I  _did!_ "

Vexen took a deep breath, biting his lip, trying to hold all the emotions he was feeling right now back. He needed to be calm, for Riku's sake, regardless of the fact his heart was aching like it was.

"You did fine, after-" he began.

"That doesn't  _matter!_ " Riku interrupted, again. "I- I dealt with it because I  _had_   _to_  and maybe I'm not upset about seeing her but I didn't  _want_  to and you just  _drag_ me over here? Like I'm still—"

He broke off.

Vexen swallowed, though he had a feeling how that sentence was going to end. He dreaded it.

"Like you're still… what?" he asked, anyway, though he had plenty of guesses. One of them involved the word _puppet._  Another,  _toy—_ though only Larxene had used that word.

"Like…"

The subject clearly frustrated Riku. He ran a hand through his hair—that nervous twitch of his. Well, not nervous, but it certainly wasn't new. He did it every time something frustrated him.

"Like Castle Oblivion all over again…" Riku mumbled, eyes fixed on the ground. "Like I'm just…"

He wouldn't finish that sentence, either. Though, it was the same sentence. The one he'd started but refused to finish three times now.

"Go ahead," Vexen told him, gently. "There's no need to worry about hurting my feelings or anything."

"Like I'm just an experiment to you," Riku said, finally.

Vexen suspected as much. Then Riku laughed, a sharp and bitter sound. It made Vexen cringe a little.

"Not that I  _care_ what you think of me," Riku continued, firmly. "But it's not exactly nice to feel like I'm _anyone's_ experiment."

Vexen understood that feeling, very well. The way Xemnas had said his name—he still remembered that very well—and how it made him feel like he was nothing. Not just nothing, but _property._ Worse,  _Xemnas's_ property. It felt awful. He doubted that feeling like you nothing more than someone's experiment felt any better.

Though, honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if Riku also felt like he was…

Well…

"I'm sorry," Vexen said, and he meant it. "I got excited, and…"

He trailed off. Riku refused to look at him. That wasn't a surprise, either. Hardly anything about this conversation was. Even the walls around them were familiar.

"You could've at least  _asked,_ " Riku muttered. "Or  _told me._  Or…"

"I will next time," Vexen assured him.

"There won't  _be_  a next time."

"Hypothetically," Vexen said, chuckling a little.

But Riku was right. There  _wouldn't_  be a next time. Not like this. It shamed Vexen to admit it, but he had treated Riku like he was only an experiment. Like he was… property. Forcing him into this without his consent. Forcing him into this without even _preparing_ him for what was going to happen.

Granted, doing either of those things would've changed the results of the experiment. If Riku'd had the knowledge of what he was—

Vexen stopped his thoughts there. It didn't change anything. The results would've only been altered slightly—and it certainly wasn't enough to excuse how he'd treated Riku. Nothing would be enough to excuse how he'd treated Riku.

"Why  _did_  you drag me over here, anyway?" Riku asked.

"I… did want to see how you interacted with Namine," Vexen admitted. Riku hadn't exactly been wrong in that accusation. "Yes. But I also thought I'd… test more of Alpha's hypothesis. If Namine—you know… heh…  _your_  Namine—had a meltdown while you were in a completely different _universe_ , then—"

"Yeah, but you should've  _waited,_ " Riku interrupted. "I mean, she just had  _nine._  The chances of her having a _tenth_ this week?"

Ah… Riku had a point there.

But…

"Isn't she having one now?" he asked.

Because, if he was correct (and he had a very good feeling that he was), Riku's headaches correlated with Namine's meltdowns. Especially the headaches that came out of nowhere like this.

"Right…" Riku said.

Vexen opened his mouth, then closed it. No. Now was  _not_  a good time to further question Riku about this correlation between Namine's meltdowns and his headaches. Riku probably didn't have much of a clue about it, anyway, except that it existed. Regardless, now was  _not_  a good time. Riku wanted to get to Namine, and, frankly, Vexen was starting to feel _very_ uncomfortable about standing in this Castle. For some reason, it felt so much more… sinister than its counterpart in the other universe.

"Ah, we should get back, then, shouldn't we?" he asked Riku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out the next chapter if you wanna see the final scene from Riku's POV!


	26. (DI/CE) the BIG crossover - ending from Riku's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vexen's POV of the scene was deemed more important, because he ended up having some Important Character Development, but since I also wrote this from Riku's POV, I might as well share it, right? Riku's POV also further ties in some things that are happening in DIch185.

Riku scrambled backwards a little, kicking up a bit of sand as he did so. Sand which—of course—got kicked in Vexen’s direction. Vexen grimaced, coughing as he pushed himself up. Riku smirked.

“There he is!” he laughed. “I knew you were around here somewhere. The experiment went well, I hope.”

Vexen sat up and dusted himself off. “I’m technically not _finished,_ ” he muttered, sounding frustrated. He cast an annoyed look up at Roxas and Xion— _this_ universe’s Roxas and Xion. “I was rudely interrupted.”

Riku chuckled. “Now you know how I feel.”

Vexen glared at him.

“Anyway.” Riku got to his feet, stretching. “We should probably get going, before Vexen gets started on anything again.”

“Yeah,” Sora laughed. “You won’t be able to get him to stop!”

Vexen started to look offended, then frowned. “How is it that you and Roxas are separate?” he asked. “And _you—_ ” he pointed at Kairi “—and Namine? Shouldn’t that… not be possible?”

“Ah, funny story, actually,” Roxas said. “We’re all—”

But the rest of the words blurred to Riku’s ears.

_“Don’t you dare!”_

His voice. In his head.

“ _Riku, please…_ ”

Namine?

“ _Oh, I didn’t realize that_ you _were—_ ”

Larxene!

But…

“ _Riku,_ please! _”_

He clutched his head; it was suddenly throbbing. Throbbing just like…

“—fascinating!” Vexen was saying. “How, exactly, does that…” He trailed off. Riku sent him a look. Vexen just frowned, looking worried. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Headache,” Riku mumbled.

Just like in Hollow Bastion. This had happened then, too. A lot. Frequently. He’d had a headache that he couldn’t make go away, and it’d felt exactly like this. It’d felt like his head was on fire, but also… also like…

“Ah, I think he’s right,” Vexen said, suddenly. “We should… get back to the other universe.”

If anyone else said anything, Riku didn’t hear it. His head was pounding too much. He was surprised he heard Vexen.

“Good idea,” he mumbled, stepping through the corridor Vexen had just formed. His mind was too occupied—between his thoughts and the pain—to give any proper goodbyes.

He couldn’t exactly describe what he was feeling, in his head, but it… it _felt_ like Namine. The touch of her mind when it connected with his.

She could see into his head. Could… he see into hers?

And if he was seeing fragments of memories along with feeling like his head was about to burst… then…

Then she was having a meltdown.

And that was why his head would’ve hurt so much in Hollow Bastion! Because she had so many meltdowns—of course he had a persistent headache. And, now that he thought about it, between the nightmares and everything else he’d felt during that week, it made sense. It made _a lot_ of sense.

But if there was anything he was certain of, it was that she was having a meltdown _now._ Which meant—

Wait a minute.

“Ah…” Vexen sighed. “Wrong universe. We’re still in… _this_ Castle Oblivion.”

Riku rounded on him, furious. “Why’d you bring us _here?!_ Is this another one of your stupid experiments?!”

“No! I- I just did what I normally do to get back to the other universe!” Vexen said. “I didn’t expect to—”

“You’re lying!”

He couldn’t help the accusation from leaving his lips. His head was pounding. His heart was racing. The walls of this _damn_ Castle seemed to be pressing in on him, as if trying to squeeze the air out of his lungs.

“No, Riku, I swear—” Vexen began.

“But why’d you bring me here to begin with?” Riku demanded, his voice cracking. “This _universe?_ Why- did you just want to put me in front of _her?_ Watch me as I panicked?!”

“You didn’t panic…” Vexen said, calmly.

“Yes I did!”

Vexen sighed, almost sounding a little disappointed. “You did fine after—”

“That doesn’t _matter!_ ” Riku shouted. “I- I dealt with it because I had to! And maybe I’m not upset about seeing her but I didn’t _want_ to and you just _drag_ me over here? Like I’m still—” His voice broke. He couldn’t finish that. He didn’t want to finish that.

The walls of the Castle seemed only to close further around him.

Vexen frowned. “Like you’re still… what?” he asked.

“Like…” Riku sighed, fingers curling into his hair. “Like Castle Oblivion all over again…” he muttered. “Like I’m just…”

No.

He shouldn’t say that.

“Go ahead,” Vexen told him, apparently sensing why he’d stopped. “There’s no need to worry about hurting my feelings or anything.”

“Like I’m just an experiment to you,” Riku said. He laughed, bitterly. “Not that I care what you think of me. But it’s not exactly nice to feel like I’m _anyone’s_ experiment.

Vexen was silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” he said, finally. “I got excited, and…”

Riku didn’t look at him. The apology was nice, he supposed, but it felt weird. Had Vexen ever apologized to him before?

“You could’ve at least _asked,_ ” he mumbled. “Or _told me._ Or…”

“I will next time.”

“There won’t _be_ a next time.”

“Hypothetically.” Vexen chuckled a little as he said it.

For some reason, Riku found himself smiling, too, but he made sure to look anywhere _but_ at Vexen so he couldn’t notice.

“Why _did_ you bring me over here, anyway?” he asked, again.

“I did want to see how you interacted with Namine, yes,” Vexen said. “But I also thought I’d… test more of Alpha’s hypothesis. If Namine—you know… heh… _your_ Namine—had a meltdown while you were in a completely different universe, then—”

“Yeah, but you should have _waited,_ ” Riku interrupted. He could see what Vexen was getting at, but… “I mean, she just had _nine._ The chances of her having a _tenth_ this week?”

Vexen only raised his eyebrows.

“Isn’t she having one now?”

Riku paused. That’s right. She was.

“Ah, we should get back, then, shouldn’t we?” Vexen asked.

“I’ll form the corridor.”


	27. (TTH) First Time Swimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku isn't sure if he knows how to swim.

Riku cast a hesitant look at the water, not sure if he was drawn to it or scared of it. He had no clue if he could swim or not. It would probably be one of those innate abilities, like walking. One that he couldn’t have forgotten if he already knew it. But… that didn’t make him any more fond of the idea. He’d put off swimming this long because of his wrist, and being injured in other places, and…

Of course, since he lived on an island now, he’d have to get used to swimming sooner or later. Sooner, rather than later, actually. There was no question about it. He let out a long breath.

“Aw, what’s the matter, Riku?” Sora called, already pretty far out in the ocean. “You’ve definitely healed up by now! Why are you still so scared of gettin’ wet?”

He shrugged. “I just…”

He didn’t want to say it.

“You just what?” Sora asked.

“Dunno if I can swim,” Riku muttered, digging his toes into the sand.

Sora frowned, cocking his head to the side. Likely he hadn’t heard what Riku’d said. Kairi was closer, though, and she’d definitely heard. She made her way back to the beach, dripping wet.

“Whaddya mean you can’t swim?” she laughed, shoving him playfully.

He took a step to the side to keep his balance, flushing and looking down at his feet. “I didn’t say I couldn’t. I said I didn’t _know_ if I could.”

“What’s that?” Sora said, as he made his way to the beach, too. He was laughing, just like Kairi was. “You said you can’t swim?”

“No!” Riku protested, feeling his cheeks grow hotter by the second. “At least- I- I don’t think that’s it… I just… can’t remember if I can swim or not.”

Both Sora and Kairi immediately gave him their best sympathetic looks. He sighed a little. He hated this routine. Sure, he couldn’t remember anything. But it really wasn’t such a bad thing. He wished they’d stop acting like it was.

“You remember nuttin’ about it, huh?” Sora asked.

Riku shrugged. Honestly, a part of him felt like he’d been swimming before he could walk. Another felt like he’d never even laid eyes on water before he’d come here. He wasn’t sure which to believe, and at the moment, sorting it out was only giving him a headache.

“Well, the best way to find out is to just get him in the water!” Kairi declared, grabbing Riku by the hand and dragging him into the water. She stepped into the ocean without hesitation, but Riku kept his eyes on his feet, trying not to step right as there was a wave coming in. Kairi laughed, and his cheeks grew redder.

She stopped dragging him when they were shin-deep in the water. Well, he was shin-deep. She was about knee-deep, given the height difference between them and the fact she was a little further out than he was.

“Anything coming back to you?” Sora asked, wading out to join them.

Riku shook his head, still staring down at the water, watching as the waves beat constantly against his legs. He clenched his toes into the ground, feeling the sand and a couple of pebbles.

“Well, we’re not gonna find out if you can swim or not if you just stand there,” Sora said, impatiently. Riku heard him shift—

“Sora!” Kairi shouted, and immediately lunged at him. She knocked him down, and they both went underwater for a second. Riku flinched a little at the spray of water they knocked up in the process. They reemerged shortly after going down, seeing as the water wasn’t very deep where they were standing.

“You can’t drag him down!” Kairi gasped, whacking Sora over the head. “That’s _mean!_ ”

He just laughed. She splashed him in response.

Riku chuckled a little, rubbing his arm.

“Sora’s right, though,” Kairi said, after a moment. She shrugged apologetically. “The only way to figure out if you can swim is to actually try.”

“Don’t worry!” Sora scrambled to his feet. “I’ll stay close to you so I can tow you back to shore if I need to!”

“And I’ll make sure Sora doesn’t dunk you or anything,” Kairi added.

He splashed her.

Riku let out a long breath, and waded further out into the water, until it was up to his chest. At the very least, he didn’t feel completely out of place in the water. Something in the back of his mind told him this would be easier if he went ahead and got his head wet now, so he took a deep breath and dunked his head under the water.

Being completely submerged didn’t scare him at all, like he’d almost expected it to. In fact, it was almost comfortable. Without even thinking about it, he pushed off from the ground and swam forward, getting about three strokes before his head broke the surface again.

Kairi and Sora were grinning and cheering at him.

“There you go!” Kairi called.

“Can I dunk him now?” Sora asked her, not-so-quietly.

She smacked him again.

Riku laughed and swam back towards them. Sure enough, like he’d predicted, it was something of muscle memory. Even if he couldn’t remember swimming before, he hadn’t forgotten how to do it.


	28. (DI) If I'm me, then who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua and Ven run into Roxas, which is, weird, to say the least. (Happens same time [DIch192](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10978008/chapters/26650581) does.)

“Ven?” Aqua asked, staring at the person standing before her. He… _looked_ like Ven—though he was wearing a black coat and held a different Keyblade, not to mention held it _differently_ than Ven did. (Ven was left handed and wielded backhand. This kid did neither.) But… his face was exactly the same. Exactly.

He turned to her, shook his head apologetically. “Nope, sorry. My name’s Roxas!”

Roxas, huh? But…

Aqua was about to question him further, when—

“Aqua!” Ven called. “There you are!”

Both she and this Roxas kid turned to see where he was; he was a good distance away, and heading their direction. She waved him over, though she wasn’t any less confused. Maybe it was… a trick of the light? Surely if she compared them side by side…

Except now that they were standing next to each other, she realized that they really were identical. Minus the clothes, of course. And… was Ven paler? Had he _always_ been that pale? Maybe Roxas’s skin was just darker…

“Uhm…” Ven looked Roxas over, slowly frowning in his confusion. Roxas stared back at him, looking slightly confused—but certainly much less so.

“This is weird,” he said, though his tone of voice suggested he couldn’t be bothered too much about it.

Ven raised his left hand. Roxas raised his right, mirroring him. Ven put his hand down, and raised his other hand. Roxas did the same. They both leaned closer to each other, making a weird face—the same weird face. Aqua laughed.

“What?” Ven asked.

“The two of you!” Aqua exclaimed. “You’re ridiculous!”

Ven just grinned. Roxas laughed.

“I have a question, though,” Ven said. “If… I’m me. Then… who are you?” He pointed at first himself, then Roxas.

“Oh? I’m… a Replica. Of Sora.” Roxas made a face, then. “Or… so I thought. I’m having second thoughts now that I’m looking at _you._ ”

“Hmm… Oh! Right!” Ven grinned. “My name’s Ventus, by the way, since I haven’t introduced myself. Everyone calls me Ven, though.”

“My name’s Roxas,” Roxas said. “Everyone calls me… Roxas.” He laughed. “I’m not sure if you can’t shorten Roxas…”

Ven thought about it for a second. “Well… you could say… ah… Roxas… rocks…” He trailed off, running over the sounds under his breath as he thought some more. “Rock. Or Rocky. Or Roxy?”

“I’ll stick with Roxas.”

“I’m Aqua, by the way,” Aqua said. “Since I hadn’t introduced myself either.”

Roxas smiled at her, but he seemed a little impatient now. Like he had somewhere else to be.

“If we’re keeping you—” she began.

“What are you two doing here, anyway?” Roxas asked, like he hadn’t heard her. “You’re obviously not locals, and Agrabah isn’t much of a good tourist spot either. Too much heat. Too much sand. Too many Heartless.”

“That’s why we’re here!” Ven said. “The Heartless.”

Roxas raised his eyebrows. “Is it?” he asked. He looked between them, skeptically. “Well… I’ve already got that covered…”

“We can help each other out, though, right?” Ven grinned. It was like he’d completely missed Roxas’s sudden cold attitude. Maybe he had… Ven had never been too good at noticing that sort of thing.

“Ven,” Aqua said. “If Roxas doesn’t _want—_ ”

“Can you wield a Keyblade?” Roxas asked, suddenly, looking directly at Ven. Aqua frowned—that was the second time he’d interrupted her.

“Sure can!” Ven replied, summoning his Keyblade for extra emphasis.

Roxas lit up immediately.

“That’s a funny way to hold your Keyblade,” he exclaimed.

Ven just shrugged.

Roxas studied his grip for a moment, then spun his own Keyblade around to imitate it. He took a couple of swings, and surprised Aqua—and Ven, from the sounds of it—when he executed them with perfect form. It was like he’d be fighting that way for as long as Ven had.

“Nice!!” Ven told him, grinning, completely awe-struck.

Roxas just flipped his Keyblade back around, turned to Aqua. “And you?”

“Yes…” she said, slowly. She blinked a few times, still stunned. After a second, she figured she might as well humor the boys, so she summoned her Keyblade, too. Roxas studied her intently, but didn’t imitate how she was holding it, like she half expected him to. “Now, if we’re a bother…”

“Nah!” Roxas flashed her a grin. His cold attitude had suddenly vanished. “I hear there’s a pretty big Heartless out in the desert, and it wouldn’t be a tragedy to have some back up. Wanna help me out?”

“I don’t see why not!” Ven laughed. “Aqua?”

“I… yeah, sure.” She let out a long breath. It wasn’t that she minded. There was just something… about Roxas’s attitude. And how it kept changing… Oh well. The Heartless was what they were here for.

“Let’s go, then!” Roxas said, starting off.

Aqua banished her Keyblade, though they ended up working their way through the alleys instead of the main streets. They passed more Heartless this way, but Roxas kept plodding on, ignoring all of them. He kept saying he’d “get them later”.

“Don’t want to waste my potions, y’know?” he explained, after the third group of Heartless they ignored. “If I’m going up against a Big Bad, I want to make sure I’m well prepared!”

“Can’t you just use Cure?” Ven laughed.

“Sure, but I wouldn’t want to waste those, either!”

Aqua frowned a little, not sure if she understood. You couldn’t _waste_ a spell. They were practically unlimited. Though, she supposed, it would be a bad idea to fight a larger enemy when you were worn out… So it made sense, at least, that Roxas wanted to save his energy. At least for now.

They eventually emerged from the alley—they had to, to go through the city gates. Roxas tensed and banished his Keyblade, sticking to the edges of the crowd, as if to blend in. He ended up getting through the crowd faster that way, nearly leaving Aqua and Ven behind.

_“Aqua!”_

She stopped in her tracks. Something was tugging in her chest.

“Aqua?” Ven paused, too, turning to look at her.

“I thought… I heard someone call my name…” she said, slowly. But had she heard it? The city was noisy…

“I didn’t hear it,” Ven said.

“Hey!” Roxas called. “Are you two coming or what?”

Aqua shook her head. “I must’ve imagined it.”

“If you’re sure.” Ven hurried after Roxas. Aqua only hesitated a second more before she followed.

Once they were out of the city, it took them maybe five minutes to get to the ruins. The walk there was filled with Roxas telling them everything he knew about this Heartless—which was surprisingly a lot. It was too much to digest at once, actually. Aqua only really registered that Blizzard-type magic was supposed to work well on it. Ven seemed happy about that.

The ruins were, well… ruins. Various buildings were scattered across the area, all of them at least half-submerged in sand. From a distance, they could even see the Heartless, carving a path through the sand repetitively, all while kicking up more sand in the process.

Ven dashed off immediately, weaving his way through the ruins after the Heartless, jumping and gliding across the buildings. He moved at a speed that was slightly faster than should’ve been possible, but Aqua didn’t notice. He’d been doing that forever. Roxas, however, _did_ notice, and stared for quite a bit in confusion.

“I know what he’s doing,” Aqua said, when Roxas didn’t move. She assumed he just wasn’t sure what to do with the battle plan, which they hadn’t actually discussed. “Let’s start attacking the Heartless.”

“Sure, if we can pin it down,” Roxas replied, bitterly. The Heartless was moving pretty fast, admittedly, and the sand it was kicking up didn’t much help matters.

Aqua didn’t hesitate, though. If Ven was doing what she thought he was doing, then it—

The Heartless stopped in its tracks, frozen solid. Aqua nodded, having expected that, and launched herself at it, as Ven landed and dusted off his hands.

Fighting with Roxas wasn’t too different than fighting with Ven. In fact, it wasn’t much different at all. Roxas seemed to use all the same attack patterns, and… oh. Aqua paused a second, noting that Roxas was fighting backhand like Ventus did. That would explain a lot.

But it was still a wonder that he’d managed not only to imitate Ven’s fighting style, but also copy his attacks down to the finest detail. His form was perfect.

Aqua remembered when she and Terra were younger, they’d wanted to fight like Ven did. It’d only taken them a day to realize that Ven’s style was something that would take them much more time than either of them was willing to give to master. And yet here Roxas was, having seemingly mastered the technique in about ten minutes.

“Hey!” Roxas shouted. “Would you two stop gaping and attack? I mean, I can handle this by myself, but what’s the point of having backup if they don’t do anything?!”

“Sorry,” Aqua mumbled, shaking her head. She cast Thundaga at the Heartless.

“We’re both just a little confused,” Ven explained as he threw his Keyblade. “How is it you can… fight like that? So well? Not that I’m complaining! I just-” He shrugged, caught his Keyblade. “I’ve never met anyone else who could.”

Roxas shrugged it off, then tossed is blade like Ven had. “I dunno. S’pose I got some of your data in me—being a Replica and all. I have your face. How much a stretch is it that I understand your fighting style?”

Ven didn’t have time to answer. The Heartless broke free of the ice and started off again, paying them no attention. Ven launched into Fever Pitch and followed after it. Roxas attempted to imitate him, but he didn’t have quite the affinity for wind and wasn’t able to more than perform the bare mechanics of the attack.

Ven tricked the Heartless into running into one of the buildings, stunning it. Now that it wasn’t moving, it was much easier to attack. Ven threw his Wingblade finisher at it, something which Roxas was quick to imitate. While he lacked the affinity for wind, he definitely had an affinity for light. He couldn’t execute the attack quite like Ven could, but he was still pretty close.

Aqua frowned, watching Roxas. He’d flipped his Keyblade around again, fighting normally. Except, there was something… familiar about it. Almost like…

“Okay, I get you being able to fight like I can, but like _Aqua_ can?” Ven asked.

Roxas paused. “So what?” He seemed to be smirking a little. “Does it matter?”

“Well… no…” Ven admitted, his face scrunched up. “It’s just… weird.”

“It’s useful,” Roxas replied, taking another few swings at the Heartless. Aqua watched him closely—she hadn’t doubted Ven, but she still wanted to see it for herself. Sure enough, he’d adapted his style to match hers. Unsurprisingly, his form was perfect, yet again. It almost made her jealous.

“How are you—” she began.

The Heartless regained consciousness and shook itself before launching itself into the air. The wind picked up, forming a tornado around the Heartless, and kicking up a lot of sand. Aqua shielded her eyes, not that it helped. Her question would have to wait…

But how _could_ Roxas imitate both of their fighting styles so easily? He was obviously a quick learner, but was that just because he was a Replica? Aqua didn’t know much about Replicas. She hadn’t even heard of them before she met that Joseph boy.

The Heartless started spitting bombs at them, which Roxas was quick to knock back with a Strike Raid. Was that a Strike Raid? There was something different about the way it spun…

Aqua’s thoughts were interrupted as another Keyblade shot by in front of her, taking out one of the other bombs. She blinked a few times, taking a step back. That wasn’t Ven’s blade… but it can’t have been Roxas’s! His was still in the air, not to mention it looked completely different!

She tracked the blade with her eyes, watching to see who it flew back to. To her surprise, it went back to Roxas. He caught first his blade, then the second blade, spinning each of them under his fingertips. Aqua would’ve commented on how he was holding the blades—it wasn’t proper Keyblade technique in the slightest—but she was a little more focused on the fact that he was holding _two_ of them.

“Y- you have _two_ Keyblades!?” she managed to say.

“Yeah, and is now _really_ the time to discuss it?”

“Fair point!” Ven said, knocking another of the bombs back at the Heartless. This one broke its defenses and it collapsed, stunned again.

Roxas launched himself at the Heartless without hesitation, flipping his Keyblades so he was holding them normally. Ven ran into attack, too, throwing a lot of blizzard magic. Aqua followed suit, and soon enough the Heartless was defeated.

“ _Two_ Keyblades?” Aqua asked again, staring at Roxas. “Never, in my life, have I heard of such a thing being possible!”

Roxas glared at her, banishing one of the Keyblades. “Look. I don’t know why. I don’t care if it’s impossible. I can.” He pointed his other Keyblade at her, a little threateningly. “That’s all that matters.”

“Hey!” Ven said, pushing Roxas’s blade aside. “You should be a little nicer to Aqua! For starters, she’s my friend! Second of all, you should be more _polite_ to people in general. Third, Aqua is a Keyblade _Master_ and deserves a little respect!”

“Ven…” Aqua sighed. “That’s not…”

“Aw, c’mon?” He flashed a smile at her. “What’s the point of being a Master if you can’t flaunt it around every now and then?”

“That’s… not what Masters do, Ven…”

“Master Eraqus did it!”

“Well, yes, but- but we were his students and—”

“What’s a… Keyblade Master?” Roxas interrupted.

Aqua looked up at him. “Well…” she began, slowly. She frowned. She’d never had to explain this before. But she’d also never met very many Keyblade wielders that weren’t Terra or Ven or a master themselves. How would Master Eraqus put it?

“It’s… someone who’s mastered the art of the Keyblade—”

“Like Aqua!” Ven added.

“Ven, please,” she sighed.

“Really?” Roxas made a face, considering that. “I didn’t know it was an artform…”

“Well, everything is, in a way.”

Roxas didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m gonna be a Keyblade Master too someday, right Aqua?” Ven asked, grinning.

Aqua smiled at him, ruffling his hair. He grinned wider.

“Someday, I’m sure,” she told him.

 “What about me?” Roxas asked. “Could I be one?”

“Any Keyblade wielder certainly can,” Aqua said. She looked him over, considering it. “You… definitely have the potential…” she mused, to herself.

And at the rate Roxas seemed to be able to learn things…

“Really?”

“It takes a lot of practice, though,” Ven said. “Years and years of training.”

Aqua nodded. She couldn’t argue with that. She’d been training with the Keyblade since she was a child.

“Aw, I don’t have time for that now,” Roxas said. He didn’t seem too disappointed, though. “I should get going—”

“What about the Heartless back in town?” Ven asked. “Do you want some help?”

“I can take care of them! Trust me! I got it.” Roxas raised his hand in a partial wave, and then headed off.


	29. (FtP) SoKai badmouthing Maleficent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin. A conversation that probably should have been in the original Falling to Pieces but, well, there are only so many edits I can do.
> 
> Features thoughts on Wow Multiple Languages exist, even if they only get brought up here and nowhere else in FtPverse, lol. Further thoughts, in brief: it's safe to assume any time Sora and Kairi are talking alone it's in the Island's native tongue. Riku knows it but it took him a month to relearn it. Namine took a little longer, and is potentially still clunky at it. Roxas knows it, which gave Sora and Kairi a right scare in DIch237 when he interrupted their convo while speaking it, tbh.

All children born and raised on Destiny Islands grew up learning two languages. Common, of course, because how else were they supposed to communicate with the frequent tourists. The other language they learned was native to their island, and Kairi still had yet to hear it spoken anywhere else. Frankly, she was quite glad of that, because that meant she could talk to Sora without any actual _risk_ of being overheard. Even if someone did stumble on their argument, they wouldn’t be able to make sense of it unless they were a Destiny Islands native.

(Conversely, Kairi was also quite glad she’d been raised speaking Common tongue, too. Traveling between other worlds would’ve been near impossible otherwise.)

“She’s a _witch,_ ” Kairi hissed. Not that she needed to. Again, even if Maleficent _did_ overhear them, she wouldn’t be able to make any sense of the conversation. “I don’t trust her!”

Sora sent her a sidelong look. It might as well have been a glare, for all the hostility there was behind it. “I don’t trust her, either,” he replied, not taking care to keep his voice anywhere near as quiet. It really was a good thing they could discuss these sorts of things in Destiny Islands’ native tongue. “But we don’t exactly have another choice, do we?”

“We could _go home!_ ”

Sora stopped walking entirely. Kairi stopped, too, and turned around to look at him. His body was tense, and his lips drawn back in a slight snarl. Kairi cringed at the sight of it, but tried not to turn away. Even as ugly as the snarl was, she wasn’t—wouldn’t be!—scared of him. She knew Sora better than she knew herself. Didn’t she?

“Home is _lost,_ ” he said. There was no attempt to hide his sharp tones, now. “You were there that night. You _saw_ it just as well as I did!”

“I saw you swallowed by the darkness!” Kairi shouted. She took a step forward, and jabbed Sora in the chest. She wasn’t scared of him, she was just _angry._ “Are you sure it hasn’t tainted you, huh? Would you even know if it did?”

She wanted a rise out of him. She wanted his voice to crack, wanted to hear that he was upset and that her words had really stung. He responded with a cold anger, though, shoving her away from him with more strength than he usually had. Her heart plummeted at the sight of it, the feel of it.

“I’m _fine,_ Kairi,” Sora said. He didn’t even sound exasperated.

Kairi chewed her lip for a second, forced the tears back from her eyes. “I want to go _home,_ Sora!” she yelled. “I want to go _home,_ and I’m tired of dealing with Maleficent! She’s _foul,_ and I don’t—”

“And what are you two talking about?”

Kairi nearly jumped out of her skin, and the words evaporated in her mouth. She ran the conversation in her head again, half-fearing she’d spoken in Common at least once, and of course that the worst moment. She had to remind herself that Maleficent couldn’t have _possibly_ understood any of the conversation, minus the fact that Kairi’d spoken her name.

“Well, uh, we- we…” Sora cleared his throat. It relieved Kairi greatly to see he’d gone very pale. “We were… uhm…”

“I was just asking Sora when we were going to go home,” Kairi said, saving him (not that her voice didn’t squeak as she spoke). He’d never been good on the spot like this. Better she said something, though, than have him stammer some nonsense that got them in trouble.

Sora sent her a look, another half-glare. It was clear his confidence had returned to him when he spoke. “And I was trying to explain to her that we’ll go home as soon as I’ve finished here.”

Kairi’s eyes narrowed. She sent a hesitant look up at Maleficent. “He still hasn’t made a very convincing argument as to _why_ he wants stay, though,” she mumbled.

“He’s going to save your world, and all the others,” Maleficent said, in that great sweeping voice of hers. She paused a moment, likely for dramatic effect or something stupid like that. “But of course, he needs _my_ help for that.”

Sora nodded, like he fully believed her. Kairi almost burst out laughing. _Save_ the worlds? Pah. Couldn’t he see that Maleficent was just leading him along on a string? Glory, and heroics—all the things he wanted as a child. If he thought he could get them through Maleficent, he can’t have been thinking clearly. Maybe the darkness really had tainted him… or… or Maleficent. She was a witch, after all.

“Exactly, Kai,” Sora said. Kairi shivered at his use of her nickname, when said with _that_ tone. “I’m not finished here.”

Kairi huffed with annoyance, and would’ve stormed off then and there, had she not feared turning her back on Maleficent. Instead, she waited for the witch to leave. With the way Maleficent’s cloaks trailed behind her, it almost made her look like she was gliding across the floor. The perfect picture of a powerful sorceress from the fairytales. Why couldn’t Sora see he had no reason to believe anything she told him?

“You aren’t gonna get any glory, working with her,” Kairi said. She pushed past Sora as she spoke, and then headed off, headed for her room. She tried to look confident as she walked away, not rushed, not worried. She feared the confidence didn’t look very convincing though. She doubted that, even if it did, it would fool Sora. He knew her too well.

Just like she knew him.


	30. (FtP) Riku vs Maleficent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this does cover the Maleficent vs Riku fight that we never saw in Falling to Pieces, but it does cover it in a sort of... unique way, that I'm very fond of. AKA, we're viewing the memory file via a computer, since that's a technology thing FtPverse can do. (Who's snooping on Riku's memories? Vexen, probably,)
> 
> Anyway it's pretty neat imo. toot toots my own horn.
> 
> Oh yeah: advance warning for implied but not graphic depictions of physical abuse.

* * *

 FILE: “10262011-13.50.17.09.mem”

RECOVERED: September 6th, 2014

WARNING: THIS MEMORY MAY BE UNSTABLE. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?

> **Yes.**

* * *

 

 _“Get back down! Struggling is only going to make this worse.”_

_A shrill laugh._

_Unbelievable pain._

 

"Who are you?" Riku asked sharply. Though, it was a sort of pointless question. He already knew that this was Maleficent. How? Well,  _that_  he didn't know. There was something just nagging at the back of his mind.

"You must be Riku," Maleficent said, trying to sound pleasant. Riku nearly laughed at that. "I'm afraid you're too late, though. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed, and this world will be plunged into darkness."

"Look," Riku said. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't have time for this. Just tell me where Sora is."

Maleficent laughed. "I don't think you'll need to be worrying about that."

Riku scowled. "Seriously, you really don't want to be in my way at the moment. Just tell me where Sora is. I don't care one bit about what you want to do, but if you're going to be in my way, I  _might_  just have to kill you."

"You think you can defeat me?" Maleficent asked. "Me, the Mistress of all Evil?"

Riku groaned, and pulled his blade. He did  _not_  have time for this.

 

 _“See, just as I said it would be, is it not?”_

_He tried not to shudder at the witch’s—Maleficent’s—touch on his shoulder._

_“Sora’s new friends are more important to him than you are.”_

But the memory wasn’t his. It was…

 

“Tell me where Sora is!” Riku demanded, jumping out of the way of one of Malficent’s blasts of magic. He wasn’t quite sure what magic it was. Meteor, probably, or… something like that. Something dark.

Malficent laughed, sharp and shrill. “Like I’d do that, you insignificant fool! He’s bringing our plans to fruition, and I won’t let you stop us!”

Riku grit his teeth together.

 

_“Maleficent? Come on Sora, that’s got bad idea written all over it.”_

_“Does it? She’s helping me, Riku. Helping me, unlike how you refused to.”_

_“You never asked!”_

_“Well, why should I? You never wanted_ my _help. Why should I want yours?”_

 

Maleficent stuck to a basic pattern. Stand in one spot and throw spells—very _large_ and very _powerful_ spells—at him. When he got too close, she’d teleport away.

It wasn’t necessarily hard, it was just infuriating.

 _At least she’s staying in one spot long enough for me to land more than just a few blows on her,_ Riku thought. He glanced around, waiting for her to reappear again. She’d have to sooner or later. She always did.

There!

He readied his blade, rushed at her. She raised her staff. Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky.

 

_“I said stay down! You just LOVE making things more miserable for yourself, don’t you?”_

_“P-Please, I didn’t…”_

_“SHUT UP! Shouldn’t you have learned that already, too?”_

 

Riku stumbled, jolting away from one bolt of lightning, then another. The hairs on his skin burned. Terror gripped at his chest. 

_It’s just a little lightning! Pull yourself together!_

He picked up his blade again, channeling his fear and turning it into anger, into fury. He ran at Maleficent again, slashing through one blast of darkness to dissipate it, ducking under a second, aiming his blade at her chest.

He sliced clean through her.

She staggered backwards.

“No!” she screamed. “I will not allow you to foil this! Insignificant boy!”

 

 _"Pathetic, worthless toy!"_  

 

“Tell me where Sora is, and I might spare you,” Riku said, laughing. “Come on, I’ve wasted enough time already.”

Maleficent turned to him, clutching her chest and leaning against her staff to support her weight. She looked about ready to collapse. The sight brought a smile to Riku’s face.

“Well?” he said. “I’m waiting.”

Maleficent growled, then leaned back, raising her staff and swirling it in a complicated pattern. “Strike him down!” she commanded, swinging her staff to point at him.

Riku heard the sky crack above him, and jumped back out of the way of the first bolt of lightning. He jumped right into the second. It hit him between the shoulders, and he fell forward, the world blurring around him.

 

 _“I told you to stay down, didn’t I?”_

_A hard kick was placed to his side, sending him rolling onto his back. He groaned, coughed, grimacing at the iron taste of blood in his mouth. He didn’t try to get up this time._

_A foot was placed to his chest, a weight put on him._

_“Well, had enough yet? You going to apologize or not?”_

_Larxene’s face came into view. Green eyes, glinting with malice, but lips curved up in a smile. Lightning danced between her fingers, and she played with it idly, her attention fixed on him._

_“I- I didn’t- d-_ do _anyth—ah!”_

_She kicked him again, grinding her heel into his chest._

_“Liar!” she spat. “You d—”_

* * *

ERROR.

* * *

 

_“I- I didn’t!"_

_“You really thinking I’m gonna let up if you keep lying to me like that? If you do, you’re stupid. I’m not stopping until I hear an apology.”_

_“I DIDN’T DO ANYTH—”_

* * *

ERROR.

MEMORY UNSTABLE. CONNECTION TO “8$0$004jg:!tf09.mem” INCOMPLETE. CANNOT DISPLAY FILE.

> **Try again.**

CONNECTION TO “8$0$004jg:!tf09.mem” INCOMPLETE. CANNOT DISPLAY FILE. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU CLOSE “10262011-13.50.17.09.mem” TO STOP PROCESSES ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS A MEMORY WHICH HAS BEEN FLAGGED AS UNSTABLE. PROCEED?

> **No.**

PROCESS INCOMPLETE. UNABLE TO ACCESS “8$0$004jg:!tf09.mem.”

> **Close.**

> **Open “10262011-13.50.17.09.mem”.**

WARNING: THIS MEMORY MAY BE UNSTABLE. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?

> **Yes.**

> **Pause.**

> **Disable: connections to other memories**

> **Go to 13.58.00**

* * *

Riku pushed himself back up, rubbing his head. He ached all over, his muscles burning with protest as he staggered to his feet.

_What… happened…?_

He looked around, worried. Maleficent was gone.

_See? I knew she wasn’t going to be too difficult to fight._

He laughed to himself as he thought that. Dusted himself off. Where she’d _gone_ though, was a mystery. He didn’t remember _killing_ her, but…

He cut those thoughts off with a shake of his head.

_That doesn’t matter. I have to stop Sora before it’s too late._

* * *

MEMORY CONCLUDED. PLAY NEXT ONE? 

> **No.**


	31. (FtP) An Echo of the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ven bumps into someone familiar in Sora's heart. Except?? Is that NOT??? No, no, it _has_ to be.

It was cold. That was the first thing Ventus— _but call me Ven!_ he’ll chirp, the moment you ask—registered. Cold.

Ice cold, really, pricking at his skin like a thousand tiny needles. It took him a few moments more to recognize the cold and the pit in his stomach as darkness, the feeling he always got when it was near, always got when—

_You used to be too broken to talk back!_

_A glint of golden eyes, a foul smirk, a cruel laugh. A flash of a Keyblade, eyes met with a black mask, and the memory of a horrible pit in his stomach, one so bad he feared he might puke—_

_—_ “ _NO!_ ” Ven screamed, clutching hands over his ears, his head. The memories hurt. His head hurt. Everything hurt, and it wouldn’t stop.

_Join with me Ventus! Forge the Chi-blade!_

_Stained glass under his feet._

_Keyblade under his hand, the metal warm in his palm._

_No. I’ll destroy it, and you with it! It ends HERE!_

_Another laugh, cruel, mocking._

_The Chi-blade is made of your heart too, idiot! It vanishes, and you do too!_

_Fine then. Whatever it takes. Anything to protect my friends._

He’d done it to protect more than them. He’d found the strength to win the battle, to give up his own life, not just for them, but for everyone. For everything. So that Xehanort wouldn’t have the Chi-blade, wouldn’t have his precious war.

He’d watched the Chi-blade shatter, _felt_ it shatter, just as he felt Vanitas shatter. He thought he’d have to feel his own heart shatter, too—and that was a pain he dreaded so much. If these were his final moments, couldn’t he at least be spared that?

And that’s when a voice called out to him. Quietly, a whisper, but strong enough to heard.

The call had lead him to warmth, first, and light, which he lastly recognized as the heart of a young boy named Sora. A boy compassionate enough to reach out to him, kind enough to offer him a place to rest, while his heart healed.

But now, a place so warm and bright was suddenly cold, and dark. Ven shuddered, feeling the darkness around him, feeling it press against his skin. A bubble of light that he forced out from his body was enough to keep it at bay—for now.

 _What happened….?_ he wondered. In a place like the heart, it was almost like speaking the words aloud. He could dig through Sora’s memories, he realized, should he really want to, but that seemed like invading the boy’s privacy too much. Not that Sora was a boy any longer, he realized, with a start. More time had passed than he realized, and Ven had not aged a day. Sora had to be only a few years younger than him now.

_Well, sitting around here won’t do me anything, anyway, not unless I plan on raiding his memories. Maybe if I move around… Maybe I can find Sora and ask him what’s going on…_

So Ven started off. He couldn’t remember getting to his feet—or had he always been on his feet?—but things were like that, in the heart, sometimes. Ven thought for a second to summon his Keyblade, but summoning a blade in another’s heart seemed unwarranted, so he decided not to. It was only the darkness threatening him so far, and light alone would fix that, no Keyblade necessary.

He wasn’t sure how long he walked—if it really could even be called _walking—_ but it was long enough for him to think. To think, and to _feel._ Darkness wasn’t the only thing he could sense here. There was a presence, too. Two presences. Maybe. It was hard to tell how many, just that one was frighteningly familiar. Actually, both that he felt were familiar, it was just one was an echo of familiarity, barely noted, while the other simultaneously made him so happy he could cry while making him want to vomit.

It was that presence he searched for as much as he searched for Sora, though chances of finding the boy in these depths his own heart were surprisingly slim, unless he was asleep.

_And the other presence… Could it be?_

He didn’t dare hope, didn’t understand _why_ he hoped, he just… He had to know. It had felt so permanent when it had happened, but maybe… _maybe._

Finding out that he was right about the presence frightened him so terribly that he jumped right out of his skin and even summoned his Keyblade. That didn’t change the tears of joy that welled up in his eyes, though. It was hard to explain why he was so happy, especially at the sight of _this_ face, but he was. His heart felt like it would burst.

“Vanitas,” he said.

Vanitas looked at him—yellow eyes narrowing, face pinched, his black hair looking even more of a mess than usual. He wasn’t wearing clothes, though, in reality, he wasn’t much more than a torso on a mass of darkness. Just like him to be lazy like that, in a lot of ways.

“Who are you?” Vanitas asked.

The question made Ven’s heart stop. Hope died abruptly. Tears were already rolling down his cheeks, but they went from happy tears to devastated ones surprisingly quickly. He still couldn’t say why it mattered. Couldn’t say why his heart tugged so at the sight of a boy who’d been so cruel to him, even if a boy forged from his own heart.

“I’m… Ventus…” Ven said, very slowly.

“That’s right…” Vanitas—was that Vanitas? It _had_ to be—said. He got a distant look. “You would be here. He was… three, wasn’t he? Two? Hmm…” Ven wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but didn’t have a chance to ask. Vanitas turned to him, then and a string of darkness formed in his hand. “How do you like being awake, hmm?”

Ven scowled. His tightened his grip on his Keyblade—no familiarity would make him put down his guard, and besides, Vanitas was acting strange. Too strange. “It’s…” He swallowed. A bitter reply died in his mouth. “It’s dark.” He did not mean for his voice to sound as scared as it did, but…

“Of course it is,” Vanitas laughed. Ven wanted to stop calling the being before him Vanitas, but how could he, when it wore his face? “Sora did surrender himself to it, after all.” The way Vanitas tasted the name _Sora_ on his tongue sent shivers down Ven’s spine—or perhaps that was just the news.

“Sora? Surrender to the darkness!?” He laughed. “He wouldn’t!”

Not Sora. Not that boy so full of light, that had offered him refuge, that had—

“You better believe it, Ven-y boy!” The laugh was cruel, but Ven figured he should expect no less, not from that face. “He must have, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” He moved the string of darkness, slowly working it into a twirl, and after a moment it shifted, became a string of chains. “What do you think?” he asked, turning to Ven. The chains did not stop twirling once.

Ven didn’t grace him with an answer. “What do you mean, _Vanitas,_ that Sora surrendered to the darkness?”

“Exactly what I said!” the reply was more irritated than cruel, this time. “I mean, given all the darkness that is around you, are you really doubting it? And what the hell kinda name is _Vanitas,_ anyway?”

Ven bit his tongue. Vanitas—not-Vanitas?—was right. There was too much darkness here for him to really consider another option. Sora must have surrendered himself to the darkness, or, at the very least, it had crept in and… But what had Vanitas said? Questioning his own name?

_It may not be his name. It may not be him!_

_But, how, when he feels just the same?_

Ven sighed. At any rate, Vantias-who-may-not-have-been-Vanitas didn’t seem to want to attack, so Ven loosened his grip on his Keyblade and lowered his guard. “How… how is Sora, anyway?” he asked. The words came out hesitantly—it wasn’t a question you could _normally_ ask a creature of darkness.

“Dunno.” Vanitas—it was easier to just call them that—said, with a shrug. “Deliciously unwell, I hope.” He rolled his head from one side to the other. Ven could almost hear his neck crack. “Though, he’s got a lot on his tail with Ansem around, and that’s unfortunate—I can’t believe he let _that_ guy in.”

Ven swallowed. What was that supposed to mean? But, more importantly, he supposed, who was Ansem? Hadn’t he heard the name before…? He asked Vanitas—at least, who Ansem was, anyway. He left out the part about maybe having heard of him before.

“Dunno that either,” Vanitas replied. “I think I maybe knew him? I mean, I haven’t seen him before in my life but it… it _feels_ like I know him.”

Ven’s hand moved to hover over his heart. If this Ansem was the other presence was sensing, then he knew the feeling. It… it _almost_ felt like Master Xehanort. But that was silly! It couldn’t be him. Ven wasn’t sure what had happened to Master Xehanort, being too busy defeating Vanitas and destroying the Chi-blade and all, but surely either Aqua or Terra had taken care of him.

Speaking of Vanitas… this couldn’t be put off any longer.

Ven cleared his throat. It brought Vanitas’s gold-eyed stare to him. He had to clear his throat again, this time so he could speak. “You really… _don’t_ remember me, Vanitas?”

Yellow eyes flashed with anger. “Stop _calling_ me that _name!_ ” Vanitas-not-Vanitas snapped. “And why the hell would I remember you?”

Ven shifted. Maybe this wasn’t… but it _had_ to be. If he’d survived the destruction of the Chi-blade, then Vanitas had to have, too. Plus he _felt_ like Vanitas. No other person had ever tugged at Ven’s heart like this.

“You don’t even remember the Chi-blade?” he asked.

“The _what?_ ” Then Vanitas’s widened. The string of ‘til-then-ever-twirling chains fell to the ground. He pressed his knuckles to his head. “WHOA. _WHOA._ NO. _What. the. hell._ ” He shuddered, sinking forward, fingers curling into his hair. “What is _this_ what are _these memories_ what…… Nng… bald man… _you…_ cowering. Trapped by my unvers—what the _HELL_ are _UNVERSED?—_ and- and the _Chi-blade_ in my hand beating d-down on _STOP!! NO!! STOP!!_ ”

Ventus wasn’t sure at what point Vanitas stopped being just a torso and a mass of darkness, and started being a full body, it just happened. He was on his knees, looking about ready to tear out his hair.

“ _STOP! STOP IT! THESE ARE NOT! MY! MEMORIES! THESE- THESE ARENT—_ ”

His voice made everything around them tremble, like reality itself was on the verge of shattering. The heart was like that. Ven tried not to tremble with the world around him, and banished his Keyblade, moving towards Vanitas. Memories or no, it _had_ to be him.

“Listen, Vanitas, it’s okay,” he said, reaching out. He wasn’t sure why he was comforting him, though perhaps the fact that this was the other half of his heart was enough of a reason. “It’s alright. We’re… alive. Y’see? We’re not—”

“DON’T _TOUCH_ ME!!!” A blast of darkness threw Ven back. “Get the hell _AWAY_ from me. I was _FINE_ before _YOU_ got here! I was ABSOLUTELY _fine!_ ”

Ven pushed himself back up, approaching more cautiously this time. “Vanitas, please—”

“ _LEAVE!!_ DON’T SAY THAT FUCKING NAME!! JUST!! _LEAVE!!!_ ”

It was a larger blast of darkness that Vanitas sent out this time. It hit Ven dead on. He grit his teeth and tried to summon enough light to beat the darkness back, but it was too late. The darkness engulfed him.

When he awoke, he was in his own body, surrounded by white walls. He couldn’t remember how he got here. He couldn’t remember much else besides a boy named Sora calling out to him before he was engulfed. He could remember that, and a beat of a presence in his heart. A beat of a presence that was familiar, that his heart longed for, that was gone.

Slowly, uncertainly, Ven got to his feet and tried to figure out where he was—and more importantly, where Aqua and Terra were. How long had it been, anyway? How long had he been asleep? He hoped Aqua was okay, and Terra too, of course. He also hoped they weren’t old and grey.

 _It’ll be fine,_ he told himself, summoning his Keyblade to him. He hit the switch on his shoulder, summoning his armor, too. _Now…_ It was only seconds before his Keyblade was a glider, and he was boarding it. He looked down at a green glass star shaped charm, clutched in his hand. The wayfinder Aqua had made him, had made all of them.

_Can this thing take me straight to her? To either of them? I guess it’s time I found out!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should mention that the canon explanation for how the fuck Ven even got to his body again is "when Sora was dragged into the Realm of Darkness by Ansem, Ven was expunged from his heart and latched onto Riku for self-preservation. He didn't really 'stick' to Riku, because Riku didn't ask for this - but the good news is Riku carried Ven to Castle Oblivion, and from there it was just a hop skip and a jump back to his body."
> 
> Which, is kind of silly and probably breaks one or more laws of Canon(TM) but... well I made this decision five years ago folks, can't really change it now.


	32. (Pre ATR) Sora returns home

Sora opened the front door to his house slowly, so that the hinges would not creak. His father could probably sleep through anything, but his mother was a notoriously light sleeper, and he did not want to startle her by _coming home._ Of course, she (probably) wouldn’t be mad if he _did,_ but…

Honestly, he was just a little overwhelmed at being here, on the doorstep of his house, let alone the possibility of seeing his parents tonight. Was he really ready for that? There was tight knot in his stomach.

He stepped inside the house, placing his weight on the wooden floorboards with a care he had not taken since sneaking in and out of his house to Kairi’s when he was younger. He should’ve left his shoes by the door—as per custom—but he managed to forget, and left them slung over his shoulder instead. There, so they would not track too much sand on his mother’s clean floors.

He felt like a ghost.

He felt like a ghost, in this house. Nothing really looked different, and he relished in that, relished in being back and seeing things he’d at one point thought he’d never see again. But it was strange, too. Everything was the same, here, before he’d left. The slightly crooked table, his mother’s rocking chair, the pictures on the walls and the curtains on the window. Everything was the same.

Everything but him.

He’d been away, for the last six months, and he’d changed so much. He wasn’t the same boy who’d left here, head in the clouds, heart filled with jealousy. There weren’t any clouds, anymore. Just reality. Things of fairytales, things of nightmares—each wonderfully and terrifyingly real. And the jealousy for Riku beating in his chest had been replaced with a deep weariness.

Sora skipped the second step of the stairs, along with the seventh—they creaked—without thinking about it. He stood at the top of them, for a moment, staring wistfully down to his parents’ room at the end of the hall. They’d be asleep. They didn’t know he was here. He hadn’t seen them in six months, and they didn’t know he was here.

He could wake them. Or, he could not. He could flop down in his bed and let them find him in the morning. A part of him wanted that very desperately. He was tired, and his mind was spinning from all that had happened, but…

He paused to drop his shoes inside his room, then moved down the hall. He’d give them both heart attacks if he was just _there_ tomorrow morning, unannounced. It was too cruel of a thing to do.

Still, he hesitated more than he should’ve. There was a lump in his throat, and the knot in his stomach only tightened as he looked down on his mother’s sleeping face. Should he wake her? Should he really? Maybe he’d go to Kairi’s, instead, spend the night there, come find his parents in the morning—

No.

No, he couldn’t do that to them.

He’d been gone long enough.

Sora let out a deep breath, then reached out to grab his mother by the shoulder. He gently shook her awake.

“Mom?” he asked, voice cracking a little.

She jumped as she jolted awake, blinking up at him. “Sora, can it wai—” She stopped there, blinking the rest of the sleep out of her eyes. Then she sat upright, eyes going wide. “ _Sora!_ ” she gasped.

An uneasy grin broke across his face. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Y-Yeah, mom, it’s me,” he said, through the thickness of his throat.

“Haru! _Haru!_ ” His mother turned and shook his father anxiously. His father only groaned and shifted, but that was to be expected. He’d never been easy to wake. “Haru, please, your _son_ is home!”

“Should I sit on him?” Sora asked, laughing through his tears. He hadn’t sat on his father to wake him since he was five.

“No, no, that’s alright,” his mother said. “He’ll wake eventually. Here.” She fumbled for the bedside lamp. “Where have you—” The light flickered on, and the words died in her mouth. She gaped at him. Didn’t say anything.

Sora frowned, reaching up to wipe away his tears. “What’s wrong…?” he began, but the action of wiping his tears answered the question. His knuckles brushed a still-sensitive spot of skin, and he reflexively flinched as it stung.

The scar. The scar that marred his face. The scar that had not been there when he left.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut, tears burning in his eyes anew. “Mom, I—”

“Sora, what _happened_ to you?” His mother took his face in her hands. He tried not to flinch again, away from her. It didn’t hurt, much, anymore. But it _definitely_ hurt with his mother prodding at it like this.

His voice hitched in his throat. “It’s- It’s a long story,” was all he could manage to say. He could not tell her any more than that. He could not tell her what had really happened, not now, not until he’d explained where he’d been. And, that was not something he could do tonight. He was too tired. “I’m… I’m alright, though,” he assured her. “It doesn’t hurt.” His tight shoulders and the way he squirmed probably told her otherwise.

“Well… you’re home, now…” his mother said, very slowly. She let her hands fall, and Sora dared to open his eyes again. Tears glistened on her cheeks. “And, that… That’s all that matters.”

Sora nodded, then reached down to hug her. He could not hug her as tightly as he wanted, because he was always afraid he’d break her nowadays, but he hugged her as tight as he could. She hugged him back even tighter, thin arms crushing him against her chest.

“I missed you,” Sora choked out, the words slurred by his tears. His mother nodded into his shoulder. It… it was good to be here. It was good to be home. It was good to be hugging his mom.

Sora’s father slept through the whole thing, but, that was alright. Sora and his mother sat there for a while, and then finally, Sora pulled away. His mother did not seem to want to let him go. He didn’t blame her.

“I’m tired, mom,” he said, to convince her. “I haven’t slept in ages. Can I _please_ go to bed?”

His mother squeezed him hard, once, then let her arms fall from his back.

“Yes, of course you can, sweetie,” she said. He was not sure her voice shook with laughter or with something else. There was a warmth in it, regardless. “Get some rest. I won’t keep you.”

“Thanks.” Sora moved to leave the room, waving. “See you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning,” his mother replied. She was grinning.


	33. (ATR) Childhood Not-Junk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Kairi reminisce on some things they created when they were kids. (Happens within the first ten chapters of ATR.)

“What are you doing, Sora?” Kairi asked, laughing a little at the sight of him sprawled out on the floor, arms and head somewhere beneath her bed.

“Hey Kai!” he replied, without moving. His voice was very muffled.

“You lose something?” Kairi kicked him in the leg, and he jolted. The following _thump_ made her wince. It sounded like he hit his head on the underside of her bed. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“S’alright. Hang on.”

With a bit of effort, he wiggled his way out from under the bed. One hand was dragging a shoe box, and the other quickly went to rub his head. He was grimacing up a storm, but he can’t have been hurt too badly, or he would’ve just thrown up a Cure for himself.

“Is that Mako’s box of marbles?” Kairi asked, squatting down next to him. She pulled the box out of his hand without any trouble, and opening the lid proved her suspicious. Taped to the inside was a piece of paper with _Property of Mako_ written in messy childish letters.

“Yeah, though I can’t remember stealing it from him.”

Kairi shot Sora an amused glance. “That’s because you didn’t. I did. You were the one getting his head shoved in a toilet.”

“Right…”

Sora didn’t look too happy about that reminder, but he didn’t argue, either.

“Were you looking for the marbles in particular, or…?” Kairi asked, picking up a large marble out of the box. It’d been one of her favorites since stealing the box. Dark blue—or purple, or perhaps black, she’d never been sure—with white and grey swirls that looked like galaxies.

Sora picked a marble out of the box, too, a small white one speckled with raised, uneven dots. That’d been his favorite. “Suppose we should return these to him, huh?” he said, avoiding her question.

She frowned at him, for his avoidance, and replied slowly: “Can’t. Mako moved. Remember?”

“Oh.” Sora blinked a few times, then set the marble down to pick up another. Red with black stripes. “No. Didn’t remember.” He looked confused for a moment, and then he laughed. “Guess it’s not a surprise, though, given that apparent spell on the island. I think your dad really is onto something.”

“He keeps meaning to call a magician about it, but he also keeps putting it off,” Kairi agreed, with a laugh to match Sora’s. “Every time I point it out to him, he laughs and says it’s just proof.”

“S’pose he could ask that magician in Hollow Bastion,” Sora said. “Ah… Merlin? Was that his name?”

“Yeah! You get someone to peg down where he lives, and I can take my dad to him.”

“Can’t you do both?”

“That kind of defeats the purpose of being a team, Sora!”

They both laughed for a moment. Sora dropped the marble as if he’d just become aware that he was holding it, and didn’t want to be. She sent a worried look at him, pursing her lips together, but didn’t have a chance to ask. Sora’d scrambled back under her bed.

“What now?” She laughed. After a moment, she moved so she was under the bed with him. It had much less space under it than when she was a kid—or rather, she’d gotten bigger. She had to turn her head sideways to even get it under the bed, and with Sora under here, too, there wasn’t any room to move her arms.

He was more focused on binder just out of his reach. She recognized the binder. It was the one she’d shoved most of her loose drawings—none had been very good—and scraps of stories into. The stories weren’t much better than the drawings, if she remembered correctly. And, if she did remember correctly, the binder had been shoved under here out of embarrassment. She didn’t protest as Sora’s fingers brushed it, though.

“Crud, Kairi, I can’t reach it.” He said, after a moment. “Can you?”

“Uhhuh.” She had to wriggle quite a bit to get an arm from her side to above her head, and had to elbow Sora at least once in the process. He shimmied away from her after a moment, hands closing on another shoebox that was closer to him.

They pulled themselves out from under the bed with their prizes. The shoebox Sora had grabbed was a collection of seashells Kairi’d forgot she’d been saving. Sora didn’t ask for the binder, now, he let her open it and flip through it herself, while he took the seashells out of the box and started sorting them by shape, then by color within the shape piles.

The drawings were obviously done by an eight-year-old in rough crayon, using exotic colors like _misty purple mountains_ and _macaroni and cheese._ Kairi chuckled a little at the sight of the pictures, but was quick to turn away from them. She started reading through one of the story scraps—that at least written in pencil on lined paper—but couldn’t get more than a paragraph in.

She closed the binder and tossed it aside, moving to help Sora with the seashells.

“Why you so interested in this old junk, huh?” she asked, for what had to be the third time.

“Not junk,” Sora said. He placed one of the seashells down, then reached over Kairi for the binder. He looked fondly at the pictures, running his fingers over the drawings with a slight smile. “Remember Cakeberry?” he asked.

“Oh my gosh do not say her name.” Kairi shook her head, though she couldn’t help the slight smile and blush that rose to her cheeks. Cakeberry had been a character she’d come up with when she was five. Her head was a cake. Kairi grimaced, then repeated: “What’s got you so interested in this not-junk?”

“I… I didn’t think I’d ever see it again…” Sora said, very slowly. His eyes were fixed on the open binder, still on a picture of Cakeberry. He slowly turned the page, though, to the next picture. “I mean. I dunno. I didn’t think much about it while I was gone, but once I got back… I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent reading and rereading my old journals. The stories are dumb, but… I could’ve not come back. I could’ve never seen this stuff again…” He looked up at her, then, a sly smile on his face. “I coulda forgotten about _Cakeberry._ ”

Kairi whacked him. He laughed.

“I mean it though,” he said, sighing. The smile fell. “I didn’t think I’d miss it, but the moment I saw it again, the thought of ever losing it near paralyzed me.”

“Right…” Kairi said, slowly. She let out a long breath. “You really thought you wouldn’t come home?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “It was… I didn’t think I was gonna get away from Maleficent, for a while, and… and there was my Shadow to deal with…” He fingered a page of the binder idly, like he was about to turn it, but had forgotten he was even holding it. “I dunno.”

Kairi let out a long breath. She placed a few more seashells, letting him sit and think.

“Why didn’t you bring your journals over, huh?” she asked, to redirect his mind to something happier. “If you get to make fun of me about Cakeberry, I should get to make fun of you for… what was his name? Glokaclodadoodle?”

“Glokakus,” Sora grumbled, though he was smiling. “Guess I should’ve. You want me to run and get ‘em? I can.” He was already getting to his feet, not waiting for the answer.

“Sure,” Kairi said.

“Gimme five minutes.”

He left.


	34. (Post-FtP) Persistent as Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you meddle with the affairs of another universe, you upset its balance. The presence of just one unplanned person causes ripples, and those ripples have consequences. 
> 
> One consequence is this: When one Keyblade wielder is swallowed by the darkness, the darkness coughs a certain Keyblade Master back out.

Aqua couldn’t say she was sure _how_ it happened. One moment she’d been walking through any old path in the Realm of Darkness, the next she found herself waking up in a sea of grass. She didn’t remember falling asleep—she avoided sleep as much as possible, in fact, otherwise she’d be prey to not just the monsters, but the darkness as well. It was lucky time flowed so oddly in the Realm of Darkness.

Still, she’d definitely been sleeping in this grass, and… this didn’t look like the Realm of Darkness. There was a _sun,_ and a proper _sky,_ for starters! She’d thought she’d never see either again. She hastily wiped tears from her cheeks, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

How did she get here? That was still the question—and, another: was this a dream?—she thought about it, but… nothing. Walking. Waking up here. That was it. She reached in her pocket for her wayfinder, out of comfort more than anything else. Her wayfinder wasn’t there. She panicked, a second, before finding it in the grass before her.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she clutched it to her chest and collapsed into the grass. She was _exhausted._ Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to sleep again.

The second time she awoke, she was fairly certain this was real. Nothing had changed, except the position of the clouds and the sun in the sky. There was no way she could dream the same place twice, or, it was unlikely.

Aqua slowly pushed herself to her feet, and after a long moment of hesitation—remembering what had happened the last time she’d tried this—hit the switch on her shoulder to activate her armor. That came just fine. Her Keyblade became a glider just fine. And as for the portal to the Lanes Between…

There it was.

Tears welled up in her eyes again, tears of relief. She wasn’t sure how, but she was finally free of that terrible realm.

Taking a deep breath and blinking back the tears, she started through the portal.

 

**xxx**

Her first stop was Master Yen Sid’s. He was very surprised, and very relieved, to see her. Aqua explained where she had been, though Yen Sid seemed at a loss as well for how she got out. When she asked, he said he hadn’t seen Ventus around either, and doubted he was as lucky as she was. Aqua couldn’t say she was surprised.

When she asked about Mickey, Yen Sid told her that he had not seen him in a while, either, but, if he knew his old apprentice, he had a fairly good idea of what Mickey was up to. There was a group called Organization 13 that was causing trouble in the worlds, and he was looking to stop it.

As it turned out, this was not the second time there had been trouble for the worlds. Very recently, in fact, a man named Ansem had been out to plunge them all into darkness—how he was stopped, Yen Sid wasn’t sure. He left it at that, but Aqua got the feeling there was something else he wasn’t telling her.

“What about Terra?” Aqua asked.

Yen Sid shook his head.

“And Xehanort?”

It killed her to say his name, but she did. Yen Sid hesitated a moment, then shook his head again.

“I have not seen him nor sensed him in the worlds in years,” he answered.

Aqua sighed.

“Alright. Thank you.” She stepped away from Yen Sid’s desk. “If you see Mickey, or… or Terra—” She did not ask about Ven, having a good feeling where he was. “Could you tell them I’m looking for them?”

Yen Sid lowered his head in a slow form of nod. “Yes, I can.” His hesitance suggested he did not anticipate seeing Terra, though Aqua did not blame him for that. She did not expect to see Terra, either. “Would you like me to pass the same message onto Ventus, as well, if by some miracle he is awake?”

Aqua nodded. “Yes, please.”

And she took her leave.

Her next stop was home—or, it would have been, had she been able to access the world. There was some force keeping her out. Some force not even the Keyblade could unlock. It was very disconcerting, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She considered asking Yen Sid about it, only to decide to wait. She had just left him, after all. She could go tomorrow.

Seeing as home, and Ven, were not an option, Aqua headed next to Disney Town, if only to get her bearings. Yen Sid had brought up a lot of information that would take some time to digest. Disney Town’s bright and pleasant atmosphere would be a nice place to do said digesting. She’d almost gone to Radiant Garden, which had a similar atmosphere—but then she’d remembered her battle with Xehanort there, and had turned her glider towards Disney Town.

Horace was very happy to see her, and even offered to set up a Fruitball court for her. The court was currently down due to the lack of tournament or festival, but he swore it wouldn’t take more than an hour or so, if she really wanted to play. She politely declined.

She couldn’t find Huey, Dewey, or Louie, so their ice cream game was also out of the question, not that she’d come here to play games. She’d just come here to… relax.

She was glad to see there were no more Unversed around, nor any of those Heartless. She knew what a Heartless was, of course—she’d spent the last who knew how long fighting them—it would just take her some time to get used to putting a name to the creatures.

The first time Aqua had seen Heartless outside of the Dark Realm was when she’d landed before Yen Sid’s tower. A small group had come out to attack her, and she’d reacted on instinct. Magnega + Thundaga became Spell Weaver, became Ghost Drive before the Magnega was finished. She’d released Ghost Drive’s finisher and cast Transcendence (sending her into Spellweaver again) before she had realized that there were no more of them. It’d also been about then that Yen Sid came stumbling out of his tower in surprise, due to feeling the strong signature of the magic she’d cast, and wondering where it had come from.

He’d explained to her what the Heartless were and where they had come from. Most of them had been summoned by Ansem. When asked about the Unversed, he’d explained since their source—Vanitas—had been destroyed, so had they.

It had been good to hear, though the presence of Heartless in the worlds still worried her.

“Aqua…?”

She looked up in surprise at the sound of her name, and was further surprised when she saw Queen Minnie standing before her. Before Aqua could say anything, Minnie broke into a grin.

“Oh, it _is_ you! When Horace sent word you were here, I almost didn’t believe him! Here, come on.” Minnie had grabbed Aqua by the hands and was pulling her to her feet before Aqua could get a word out.

“Wh-where are we going?” Aqua asked, as she let herself be dragged along.

“The Castle, if that’s alright with you,” Minnie replied. “You look like you could use a hot meal, and maybe a good night’s rest.”

Aqua flushed with surprise at the sudden and rather unexpected display of hospitality. She considered insisting that it was alright, she was fine, but then worried that might seem rude. Either way, she really didn’t have a chance to speak, because Minnie was talking again.

“I’m so glad to see you! And we’re all so glad to know you’re okay! Oh, and Mickey will be thrilled, trust me.” Minnie smiled warmly up at Aqua, and before Aqua really knew it, they were through the Castle Gates.

Minnie looked up at her again, this time worry on her face. “Aqua…? _Are_ you okay?”

Aqua blinked, and then jolted a little with surprise. They weren’t just through the Castle Gates, but inside the Castle as well, and this certainly didn’t look like an entrance hall. To Aqua’s horror, she realized she hadn’t exactly been paying attention—and had somehow completely missed the past few minutes. She tried to remember what she’d been thinking about during that time, but… She wasn’t so sure she’d really been thinking of anything.

“I’m… Sorry,” she said. She didn’t know what else to say. “I’m just… a little… Having a hard time believing this is real.” That wasn’t exactly true, but it certainly sounded much better than _I accidentally zoned out for five minutes._ She swallowed. “How- how long have I been gone?” It must’ve been a long time for everyone to be so worried about her.

“Mm… Seven years, I think,” Minnie replied. She thought about it a moment more, and then nodded. “Yes, I’m certain. It’s been about seven years.”

Aqua’s knees suddenly felt very weak, but she did not stop, did not stagger. She hadn’t been able to afford stopping in the Realm of Darkness, and even though she wasn’t there anymore, it was clear old habits would die hard.

“Has it been… _that_ long?” Aqua whispered. She couldn’t say she was surprised by the news—she knew she had been gone a very long time—but the weight of just _how_ long was still heavy. Seven years, and Ven was still asleep, and Terra… No, she wouldn’t think about Terra.

“You didn’t know?” Minnie asked.

Aqua shook her head. “I… no. I didn’t.”

Minnie considered her a long moment, and then put on a smile. “Well, come on, let’s see about getting you that hot meal.”

 

**xxx**

 

It wasn’t much longer before they were sitting in one of the Castle’s many rooms—though this one only contained a desk and a… computer. Aqua had had to ask what the device was, which had been a little embarrassing, but she’d certainly never seen one before. Not that it was a surprise. Home had never had _any_ sort of technology, and she’d also been gone for seven years.

She’d attempted to turn down the meal, but the moment she had smelled it her stomach had growled louder than it ever had in her entire life. She didn’t have the luxury of being caught in timelessness anymore. So now here she was, eating _,_ as she watched Minnie work with the computer from where she sat.

Aqua was a little surprised that she wasn’t being made to eat at a table, but Minnie had insisted she be there when she contacted Mickey. Seeing as it hadn’t been her choice, Aqua supposed she shouldn’t worry too much about it. She scooped another forkful of chicken and pasta and stuck it in her mouth, forcing herself to chew _slowly._ She knew well enough that rushing the first meal after a long fast was a bad idea.

She resolved to ask what the computer was supposed to do when she was done chewing, only she didn’t need to ask. Minnie had it running already. It seemed to ring a few times—there was no other way to describe it—and then an image sprung to life on its screen. It was Mickey.

“Hi, Mickey,” Minnie said.

“Heya Minnie,” Mickey replied.

It was some form of communication device. An instant _video_ communication device. Amazing.

“Do you have a second, Mickey?” Minnie asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Are you driving?”

“Nope.”

Minnie shook her head and rolled her eyes, as if she didn’t believe him. Regardless, she waved Aqua over. Aqua blinked with surprise. She moved so she was standing next to Minnie, anyway—there was nowhere to set her plate down, so she brought it with her.

Mickey caught sight of her, then jumped and immediately started fumbling with the controls of the Gummi Ship. There was the sound of screeching brakes. A few thumps. Then Mickey’s full attention was on them.

“ _Aqua!?_ ”

She waved and smiled, trying hard to hold back a laugh.

“Hi,” she said.

“Where’ve you been?”

“Uh.” Aqua stopped there. It was easy to explain—it would take four words—but for some reason she could not make her mouth work to say them. She swallowed hard, and started to try again, but by then Mickey was shaking his head and turning back to the controls.

“Oh, you know what, hang on. I’ll be home soon enough. I’m not too far.”

The screen went black. He’d hung up.

Aqua slowly moved back to sit in her chair, as Minnie turned to look at her. Minnie opened her mouth to speak, paused, grimaced. Aqua waited, patiently, to see if she’d put her thoughts into words or not. Finally, Minnie nodded to herself.

“Where _have_ you been, anyway, Aqua?” Minnie asked, drawing the words out carefully. “Unless, of course, you don’t want to talk about it. Or want to wait until Mickey gets here so you only have to explain once.”

“Hmm? Oh. No, that’s okay.” Aqua shook her head. “I’ve been… I’ve been in the Realm of Darkness.” It wasn’t so hard to get the words out this time, which was a relief. “Xehanort… He…” She swallowed, pushing a piece of chicken around her plate. It was not so easy to speak of Terra. She was trying very hard not to think of the last state she’d seen him in, and how it had been his voice that had—no, no, she wouldn’t think about it.

She swallowed again, hard, then continued in something of a rush, wanting to have it out and out of her mind as soon as possible. “We fought, and he sent me there, when it looked like he was losing…” That was something of truth. “And- and once I was there, I couldn’t use the Lanes Between to get out, so I was stuck…”

“I’m so sorry,” Minnie said. “That must’ve been awful.”

Aqua nodded. “Yeah… Seven years of endless wandering and fighting Heartless certainly has no charm…”

“Then I was certainly right about you needing a meal and a good night’s sleep.”

“I guess so,” Aqua agreed, with a little laugh.

“How… _did_ you get out, anyway?” Minnie asked.

“I- I don’t know,” Aqua admitted. She shrugged, picking up her fork, though she did nothing with it. “I just woke up today and I… I wasn’t there anymore.”

She let out a long sigh and aimlessly pushed a piece of chicken around her plate. She’d only eaten half of what she’d been given, but she was already full. After a moment consideration, she said: “Forgive me if this sounds strange, but… Minnie, is this… real?”

Aqua slowly pressed the prongs of her fork against one of her fingers. The sensation seemed real enough. She stopped before it could start hurting.

“Oh, Aqua, yes, of course.”  Minnie was suddenly grabbing her hands, briefly, squeezing them for extra reassurance. “ _This is real._ I promise you.”

Aqua forced the best smile onto her face as she could manage. If Minnie noticed it was fake, she did not say anything, she only moved to take Aqua’s plate. “Are you done with that?”  she asked, pausing only just long enough for Aqua to nod. “Maybe you should see about that good night’s rest now, you think?”

“Alright…” Aqua said. Sleep—especially in a proper bed—sounded pretty nice. “Unless you think I should wait for Mickey?”

Minnie shook her head. “He could be a while longer. He never said where he was or how far away. And he’ll understand. Here, let’s find someone to show you to your room.” She moved towards the door.

Aqua got to her feet as well. “Okay. Thank you, Minnie.”

“You’re welcome.”

 

**xxx**

 

Aqua felt much better after a good night’s sleep and a shower, though she slept longer than she meant to, and showered longer than she needed to. Well, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she had anything to _do._ She decided she did want something to eat, though, and started wandering her way to where she thought the kitchen was.

She found it alright, and bumped into Mickey when she got there. He beamed at the sight of her, and he told her as rapidly as Minnie had how pleased he was to see her, and how happy he was that she was okay. Then they got their food and sat at a table that Aqua thought looked much too big for all the residents she knew of who actually _lived_ in this castle.

“Minnie made me promise not to ask you too many questions,” Mickey said. “And she already told me where you’ve been, so you don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to. But- I gotta ask. Where’s Ven? And Terra?” He paused, then added: “Or is that too many questions? You can tell Minnie if you’d like. Have her yell at me.”

Aqua raised her eyebrows, a little startled. Mickey saw that, then laughed uncomfortably. “It was supposed’ta be a joke…” he said. When Aqua didn’t say anything, he continued. “Is Ven still sleeping?”

“Most likely,” Aqua answered, very slowly, not sure what to think of Mickey’s attempts at a ‘joke’. She decided to just _not_ think about it. It was alright to talk about Ven. “But, honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to check on him.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I took him home, but I can’t reach there anymore,” Aqua explained. She did not feel like explaining the part where home had been in ruins, nor the magic she’d cast on the place. “I’m not sure why.” She doubted it was the magic.

“Have you talked to Yen Sid?” Mickey asked. “He might know.”

“I’ve talked to him, but not about that,” Aqua said. “Maybe I will another time. Next chance I get.”

Mickey looked around, then dropped his voice to a dramatic whisper. “Minnie won’t let you leave?” he asked. Aqua blinked. “She does that to me sometimes,” Mickey continued. “Tells me I push myself too hard and that I need a break.” He looked at Aqua, expectantly, as if he was waiting for something. Aqua wasn’t sure what, though, nor what to say. Was this supposed to be another attempt at a joke?

Finally, Mickey sighed. “Look, Aqua, sorry. Maybe this wasn’t the best way to do it, but I was just tryin’ to getcha to smile… You look like you haven’t done that in years.”

Aqua pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp, but tears still welled up in her eyes, and after a moment, a smile broke on her lips. Not a very large smile, but it was still a smile. How long ago had she thought the same? How long had it been since she had thought she’d forgotten how to smile?

“I… Thank you, Mickey.” The words did not come easily. She was too touched to know what to say. “That’s… That’s very kind of you.”

He smiled widely back at her, and for a while they sat in silence, finishing off their breakfasts. Then Mickey shifted uncomfortably, and cast a hesitant look up at Aqua.

“What- What about Terra?” he asked.

The question made Aqua’s heart seize, though it would be a lie to say she had not expected it. She certainly hadn’t expected the seizing, though. Hadn’t expected the way her mind would blank and fill with nothing but the sight of Xehanort’s smirk on Terra’s face, of Terra’s voice—

No, no, _no._ She had spent the past seven years mulling that battle over as she wandered the Dark Realm. She would not let herself think of it again.

“Gosh, Aqua, if you don’t want to talk about it…” Mickey said. “Besides… Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I know where Terra is.”

“You do!?” Aqua pressed her palms against the table, getting up from her chair in her excitement. She hardly noticed the grim look on his face. Hardly noticed his reluctance to answer. “ _Where?_ ” she demanded.

“Well, Aqua, it’s not… it’s not exactly…” Mickey wouldn’t meet her eye. “It’s not, really, _good_ news…”

Aqua sat back down, slumping in her seat. “Xehanort…” she whispered. Of course. Mickey must’ve run into him sometime after they fought.

Mickey looked up at her now. She’d never seen him look so heartbroken in his life. “Yeah… Xehanort… He’s- He was controlling Terra.”

“I knew that.”

“Minnie said you and Xehanort fought.” Mickey cleared his throat. “Was that before or after…”

“After,” she answered, knowing what the question was before he was finished. She’d fought Xehanort _after_ he’d taken over Terra’s body.

“I’m sorry, Aqua.”

She shook her head. “Nothing you could’ve done.” _Nothing I could’ve done—_ she started to think, only to stop halfway through. That was wrong. She’d had seven years to think about it, and there had been so many things she could’ve done. At the very least, she could have _told_ Terra how much faith she had in him, how desperately she’d hoped he’d work it out, instead of berating him every time they spoke. There was little she regretted more.

“Where’s Xehanort now…?” Aqua asked. She’d asked the same of Yen Sid, but he hadn’t answered. Maybe Mickey would.

But Mickey shrugged and shook his head. “I haven’t seen Xehanort in three years. Didn’t see much of him then, either—he was causin’ trouble in Radiant Garden more than he did anything else. We aren’t sure, but… we _think_ he turned himself into a Heartless.”

“What would that have done to Terra?”

“I don’t know,” Mickey said. “There’s no tellin’…”

Aqua thought about it for a long moment, pressing her knuckles into the underside of the table. She didn’t know a lot about Heartless—or, not about how they were created—and she knew even less about Nobodies. But from what she’d heard…

“Do you think… it could’ve released him?” she asked Mickey. She wasn’t positive about this, of course, but to become a Heartless, Xehanort would’ve had to released his heart from his body. She knew enough about the heart to put that together. _Perhaps_ doing so had accidentally released Terra’s heart.

Mickey didn’t seem so certain, though. “Maybe…” he said, shrugging. “I guess it’s possible.”

The despair Aqua had been feeling became a bit of hope. “Maybe he’s out there in the worlds,” she said. “Maybe Terra’s out there, somewhere. Or maybe he got free of Xehanort before…” She trailed off, not certain how far she wanted to entertain _that_ line of thought.

“ _Maybe,_ ” Mickey repeated. He shifted in his seat. “I’d have to talk to Yen Sid before I was sure about any of this—and, besides. Xehanort’s been a Heartless for _years_. If Terra was free, wouldn’t he have shown up by now?”

“What if he couldn’t, for some reason?” Aqua countered, though she understood what Mickey was saying. “What if he- what if he lost his memory?” It didn’t seem very plausible. It was just better to cling to this than to despair.

“It’s… possible…” Mickey agreed. “But, gosh, Aqua, I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high! There’s no tellin’. You wouldn’t want to let yourself down.”

“I should still look for him,” Aqua said. And if not for Terra, then for Xehanort, or whatever was left of him.

“Well, for now, you should rest,” Mickey told her, firmly, and then he laughed. “Or, that’s what Minnie would say.”

Aqua laughed as well. “When I’m done resting,” she assured him.

She attempted to leave later that day, but Minnie talked her out of it. Or, in a lot of ways, all but forbade her from leaving.

“I know the worlds are in danger,” Minnie’d said. “But I doubt they’re on the literal verge of collapsing, and you can’t do anything if you aren’t rested!” That had been followed near immediately by her turning to where Mickey was walking by. Aqua hadn’t seen the look Minnie gave him, but it was enough for him to jump, put his hands up in defense, and stammer that he wasn’t going anywhere yet. The thought still made Aqua laugh a little, even in hindsight.

And that’s why Aqua stayed another night at Disney Castle.

 

**xxx**

 

To say that it was the light that woke her would not, exactly, be a lie. But it wasn’t sunlight that brought her out of sleep. It could not have been, seeing as it was still the dead of night. No, it wasn’t sunlight that woke her, but it was still light, a presence of it beating against her heart, a presence of light she only knew one person to have.

She sat upright and glanced around the room, his name already leaving her lips. “Ven!”

A figure by the window jolted, turned away from the window, then to her. “Oh, gosh, sorry Aqua.” That was Ven alright, scratching his head, and probably grimacing apologetically. She could not see it in this dim light, but she could hear it in his voice. “I know I should’ve waited until you were awake on your own, I was just…” He gestured at the window. “You’ve got a good view of the stars. Sorry. I’ll go back to my room. Go back to sleep.”

“What? No, wait!” That thought nearly made Aqua sick to her stomach. “Ven, hang on, you- you don’t have to…” She looked carefully around her, double-checking that they were in Disney Castle, not home, not the Land of Departure. This felt like a conversation they’d had a million times before. She wanted to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. But this didn’t look like her room, and the big fluffy bed beneath her certainly belonged in Disney Castle. She swallowed, hard. “You can stay. Please.”

“Alright. If you’d like.” Ven stopped halfway to the door. “Want me to turn on a light? Or, here…” There was a bit of movement, and then Aqua was blinking at the ball of light he held between his hands. He’d always been able to do this, though his control over the light within him had never extended past little tricks such as this one. Or, it hadn’t since the last time they’d interacted at length.

Aqua took a quick glance around the now-dimly lit room, in part just to get her eyes to adjust. The guest rooms in Disney Castle were sparsely decorated, and each only held a large bed and a closet. Nothing more. Her closet sat right next to her window, which almost took up the entire wall. Thick curtains normally covered it, but Ven had pulled those back.

Ven…

Aqua turned her attention back to him, staring, trying not to gape, and trying to believe her eyes. He’d done more than enough to prove he was really here, but even as he climbed onto the bed and settled down at the end of it, she was still not certain she was not just hallucinating. Slowly, she reached out and touched him, fingers resting on his knee, which was the closest bit of him to her. He felt real enough. And that light he held was real enough. And the presence beating against her chest was so real she could cry.

In fact, she did cry, though she did not notice until Ven had reached towards her wet cheek.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Ven,” she said, as clearly as she could. “I’m sorry. I just… You’re real. You’re here.”

“Oh, geeze, Aqua, yeah I am. This is why I should’ve waited ‘til you were up.” He shook his head, though he was certainly only angry with himself. “Here.” He tossed the ball of light up into the air, and there it hung—that was certainly something new he had learned. Before she could comment, he’d pulled her into a hug. He held her tightly, and did not let go until she did.

“How… How did you get here, anyway, Ven?” Aqua asked. “I- I mean… You were… Sleeping.”

“For seven years, I know,” he finished, with a laugh. “Don’t worry so much, Aqua—Is it weird to say I spent that time with this kid named Sora? He reached out to me after my heart Broke, and I stayed with him until… until I was ready to go back…” Then he laughed again. “Not to mention I wasn’t even sure where my body was.”

“How’d you get back to it?”

“Not sure, really. Just woke up in it one day. I feel like… I feel…” Ven’s face scrunched up. “I can’t remember. I feel like something happened, I just… I can’t place my finger on it. Oh well. Well, like I was saying, I just woke up a bit ago in what I guess is left of our home, and well… Figured I might try and hunt you down. Yen Sid said he’d seen you, and though I didn’t know to look here, it seemed like a good spot to come. I ended up in the Castle’s garden by mistake, but uh… What’d he say his name was? Oh yeah! Goofy found me while he was finishing his rounds and said that everyone was sleeping but that you were here and figured I wanted to see you, which I did, so he showed me to my room and told me which was yours and… Well…” He shifted a little, and now he didn’t meet her eye. “I wanted to see you before I went to my room, so I let myself in, and then I… I got distracted…”

Aqua watched him all while he explained, smiling in disbelief. He really was here. He was okay. It was like a miracle—though miracles and Ven had gone hand in hand for a long time. It was still good to see him. And she was so glad he was here.

“Anyway, Aqua, enough about me!” Ven nudged her playfully. “What about you? And Terra? Where’ve you been all this time? And if Terra’s not here—where is he?”

The smile vanished from Aqua’s lips. Of course Ven didn’t know what had happened to Terra, but the thought of having to tell him broke her heart.

Ven noticed her distress, and the smile fell from his face, too. “Aqua…? What’s wrong? Where’s Terra? Did something happen to him?” Each question became more frantic, and the light above them wavered.

Aqua nodded, unable to do anything else.

“ _What_ happened?” Ven demanded. “Aqua…” His whole body trembled, and she trembled with him, searching for the words to say.

“Terra… he…” No, that wasn’t right. She shook her head. Tried again. “Xehanort… Xehanort took over his body.”

Ven gasped. Shivered. “What- what about his heart?”

“I don’t know, Ven… I’m sorry…”

She curled her fingers around the blankets, taking deep breaths and trying not to break down in sobs. She didn’t want to cry in front of Ven. She was the oldest. She was supposed to be the strongest—at least emotionally. But the despair was rolling over her in waves. Terra was gone, and she hadn’t been able to save him, and Ven—

Ven was pulling her into another hug. He said nothing, but he was breathing heavily, and it was that more than feeling of his body against hers, of him holding her head to his shoulder, that more than anything else that broke the dam. Tears poured from her eyes and sobs racked her chest. For the first time in seven years, she wasn’t alone, but she’d never felt so broken.

“It’s okay, Aqua,” Ven said. He was trying to be strong for her. It knocked all the air out of her lungs. “It’s okay. We’ll find him. It’s okay.”

“I- I had to fight him,” she gasped. Her heart felt like it was in her throat. “And I- I’m not sure which was more terrifying. The fact that I was fighting Terra. Or the fact that it hardly seemed like Terra at all.” She didn’t know why she was telling Ven. Not really. It was just the idea of telling no one burned her, and after so long, Ven was like a brother to her— _was_ a brother to her, as was Terra.

Ven’s grip on her lessened, for a moment. “You… you had to fight him? Aqua, don’t tell me you had to—”

“No.” Aqua interrupted him before he could finish, before either of them could consider that thought any longer. “No, I- I… He sent me to the Realm of Darkness when he- when he got tired of fighting me.” Terra’s voice rang in her ears. _Then put an end to us both._

Ven slowly pulled away from her. She didn’t have the courage to tell him she wished he wouldn’t, but either he read her mind, or he needed the comfort as much as she did, so he plopped down next to her, instead of across from her.

“That doesn’t sound like a very fun place…” he said, slowly, with a little shudder. The light above them flickered for a moment, and he cast a hesitant glance up at it, then took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. His shoulder was pressed against hers.

“It wasn’t,” she answered. “I… I had to keep walking, or the darkness would take me—and, and the Heartless…”

“Geeze, you were walking for seven years straight?” Ven asked.

“And fighting Heartless.”

“Man, I got off easy. All I did was sleep! But, hey, at least neither of us had to bunk with Xehanort!”

Aqua sent him a sideways look. “That’s not funny, Ven.”

He shrugged. “Okay, no, sorry. It wasn’t. But we’ll get Terra back, Aqua. And you—you’re safe now. And I’m safe. We’re both safe, and pretty soon Terra will be too, alright? You know that. You went through all this trouble to protect both of us—you won’t stop now. You’re persistent, Aqua. You always have been.”

“Ven…” Aqua looked over at him, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

He beamed up at her, then reached for his ball of light, pulling it down to him. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Aqua? I’m sure you need it.” He flopped back onto the pillows next to her, and then the light vanished, leaving the room in darkness.

Aqua blinked a few times, but slowly shifted so she was lying down as well. “What about you?” she asked, rolling onto her side so she could look at him, still.

“Me? I’m gonna stay here—unless you want me to go.”

“I meant: are you going to sleep, too?”

He chuckled. “I dunno, Aqua. I’ve been sleeping for seven years. But I don’t mind staying here if you want me to. Maybe I’ll go look at the stars again, once you’re asleep.”

Aqua found herself smiling, and she closed her eyes. “Close the curtains before the sun comes up, will you? I want to sleep in.”

“You got it!”


	35. (ATR) Haircuts!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was going to put in a scene featuring Riku Actually Getting His Hair Cut around ATR 31, but couldn't talk myself into it seeing as it had very little bearing on the plot. Here's as far as I got with the scene.
> 
> Note: while this is Absolutely Canon as far as I'm concerned, this is an outline and not actual prose. I'm too lazy to make it prose and my outlines are pretty coherent imo anyway so. Deal with it, I guess??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record, Aerith cutting her hair was based on me seeing [this post](http://rarmaster.tumblr.com/post/81260625621/falsamilitis-rabbit-but-now-i-think-aerith) and going OH THAT'S SUPER CUTE

Riku looked slowly around the front room as he finished descending the stairs. Aerith wasn’t up yet—or at least, she wasn’t out here. And she was usually such an early riser, too. He popped back upstairs long enough to see if she was in her room (she wasn’t), then turned on the kitchen light (it was weird being down here without it on). He checked the fridge and the counter and the spot on the coffee table where he normally left his books, but she hadn’t left a note. And she wasn’t outside in the garden.

It was strange, and he was a little worried, but there wasn’t much he could do. Riku settled himself down on the couch and opened his book. He was itching to be moving, except without Aerith here and with no one else awake, he _technically_ wasn’t allowed to be out fighting Heartless.

Living with a family meant living with rules. None of them were really anything fancy—no arguing at the dinner table, don’t be explicitly rude, everyone has chores, etc. The one about him not fighting Heartless without supervision was the only overbearing one. He understood it, of course, he just didn’t like it.

They were worried about his shoulder falling out of place again when no one was around to set it (understandable). They were worried about him being reckless and trying to take on too many Heartless at once (it wouldn’t happen). They didn’t want him running into any Heartless who could cast Thunder while on his own (though frankly, he didn’t want to either).

Riku’d only just started reading when the front door opened.

**(and from this prose into Outline Mode)**

The door opens and he looks up _yup that’s Aerith_ and he starts make some half-sarcastic comment welcoming her back then he really sees her and he stops completely and the comment dies in his throat. Not for a bad reason!! But there’s something obviously different about her.

“You cut your hair…!” he says, surprised.

She smiles brightly at him as she closes the door behind her “Yeah!! I thought it was time for something different…?” Insert description here of her short curls + headband with the bow. “What do you think?”

“Uh, it’s nice?” Riku isn’t sure how to respond, tbh. No one raised him to know how to do this. “It’s, uh… curly…”

“It’s always been!" Aerith says. "You could just never tell when it was braided.”

“Ah.”

She sends him a very considering look, tapping her finger against her chin.

“You know, maybe you should get your hair cut, too!” she tells him (as she moves, like, further into the house or smth, since she was kind of standing in the doorway.) “Or, well, we should probably trim it so it’s out of your face, at least.”

As she says it he has to push hair out of his eyes, proving her point.

“I… uh…” he says, considering it, actually, but like... nervous.

“I mean, you don’t have to,” Aerith assures him, with a light laugh. “Tifa wears hers down to her butt, you can too if you’d like, but I’m serious about the trim. I think you need it.”

“I… I guess?” he doesn’t really see how he’s getting out of this if he says no, though, so that’s partially why he agrees.

"Here, I can cut it” Aerith says already moving for scissors, probably, along with directing him to the dining room so he can sit in a chair and make it easier on her. “I’ve been trimming Yuffie’s and Leon’s for years—I just can’t cut my own, of course.” She flashes a smile at him. He shrugs uneasily. She pauses. “If you don’t want to do it now… or if you want to go get Namine…?”

“I… no, that’s okay.” He shakes his head. “Just nervous. Never had my hair cut before.”

“I figured that. You sure you don’t want to get Namine?”

“Positive.”

“Alright, well, pull a chair away from the table and sit sit.”

“Actually… uh…” he coughs nervously. “Maybe you _could_ cut all of it?”

She stops, stares at him very seriously. “You sure? That’s a lot of hair to cut off.”

He shrugs. “It’s been bugging me,” he says, which isn’t a lie, cue him thinking about it—it’s been uncomfortably hot and just plain itchy and obnoxious at times when on his neck, but tying it back gives him a headache, and there isn’t a happy medium solution there, so, yanno.

“You positive?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, how short do you want it? shoulder length? Shorter than that?”

“Somewhere in there, just... not too short.”

“You got it!”

And insert description here of him getting set up for the haircut ((Aerith probably has to produce a towel “because trust me otherwise you get hair pieces down your shirt and you’re itchy all day—though you may want to take a shower afterwards regardless”)) and how he tries not to flinch every time the scissors snip and once she’s done his head feels so much lighter, etc.


	36. (ATR alt scene) Sora screaming Shad's music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's what will probably be the only "borderline" canon scene I upload to ASAS. This probably _didn't_ happen, but it could've happened, maybe. It's actually, potentially, a better lead in to ATR32 than ATR31 was?? Except this take probably gave too much away too soon.
> 
> Plus the _circumstances_ in which this scene happen are ones that I was, well, pretty hesitant to actually put in my larger work lol (though I PROBABLY could've reworked it somehow). STILL, enjoy these fun shenanigans and this borderline canon scene I'm terribly fond of.
> 
> (There's a scene featuring Shad's wolf on a similar "alt reveal" vein, but that was less canon, so it went in scraps. [Check it out tho imo!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11349927/chapters/26934369) I cry a lot for their relationship.

Kairi sent a hesitant glance up at Sora’s window, though there was no denying that was his voice, no denying that was him. The only question was _why. Why_ was he blaring music loud enough the whole island could hear?—and not even music she’d peg him as enjoying. That was definitely him singing to it, though, and it sounded like he knew the words pretty well.

“Sora?” she called up at him.

The only response was more singing. Kairi raised her eyebrows at the lyrics, which Sora sung with a passion.

_Teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They could care less, so long as someone else bleeds—_

Honestly, Kairi admitted, the song was kind of catchy. The point still stood, though. This was the exact opposite of music she’d ever expected him to enjoy, and even if tastes could change, it worried her. This hadn’t been his only… strange behavior lately, either. And perhaps that was what worried her the most.

She cupped her hands over her mouth and called his name again. When that didn’t receive a response, she chucked a rock at his window. Near immediately he was opening the window and sticking his head out too look out at her. Instead of a grin and some excited shout, he jumped and hit his head against the window frame.

“ _Shit!_ ” he shouted. Then he was ducking back into his room. A string of _shits_ followed, the music stopped, and then nothing. She waited a moment, but he didn’t duck his head back out his window.

“Sora!” she called again.

There was a second before he was poking his head out the window, rubbing the back of his head and looking extremely confused. “Yeah?” he called down at her.

“What are you doing?” Kairi cupped her hands around her mouth again so her voice would carry. “I mean, besides playing music so loud that half the island is complaining.”

“I- what?”

She stared up at him, the smile from her tease instantly falling from her lips, not that she hadn’t expected this. In two words and a distracted expression, Sora had entirely summed up and confirmed her worries. Either he’d gotten better at lying, or there was something wrong with him. _Very_ wrong.

“Hang on, I’m coming up!”

“Do you need me to get the door downstairs?”

“Nah!” Kairi backed up a few paces and took a dead run at the wall. Sora started some laughing protest about how he doubted she could _actually_ climb it, but it died in his mouth as she reached halfway up. She’d already been a good climber, and it’d only taken a few lessons from Tifa before she’d mastered this. Good grip from her shoes, along with momentum and a _little_ well placed magic was really all it took.

“That was awesome,” Sora told her, as she slid through his window. She was glad, not for the first time, that windows on Destiny Islands were so large. She hadn’t gone climbing through many windows, of course, but she’d been enough tight spaces over the past month or so to know her hips were bigger than she’d always imagined them.

Kairi replied to his comment with only a wink, then flopped down on his bed.

“So… I was blaring music?” Sora asked.

“Definitely. Your speakers are still on, even,” she nodded over at them.

He followed his gesture with his eyes, and then his feet were taking him over there to turn them off. He grimaced at his rather meager sound system—nothing more than a Walkman with a pair of speakers attached to it opposed to headphones.

“Weird,” he said, popping the CD out. “I’ve definitely never seen this CD before, either…” He turned it over in his hands, then started towards Kairi again. “Y’sure I was blaring music?” He asked, handing the CD to her.

She took it from him, examining it as he went back to his desk to look for the case. It was an album called _The Black Parade,_ by some artist she didn’t recognize. “I heard you myself,” she told Sora. “But if you want me to get the rest of the street to testify, I can.”

“Right…” Sora didn’t even seem surprised, and his shoulders slumped in a way she recognized as resignation.

“You don’t remember it, do you?” Kairi asked.

He shook his head. “Don’t remember doing a lot of things lately, but… it’s strange.” He came over and sat down on the bed next to her, the CD case in his hands. “Look at the tracklist. I know you won’t recognize ‘em, and I know I shouldn’t, it’s just… A couple of these _sound_ really familiar. _This is How I Disappear,_ and _The Sharpest Lives…_ I can pull up a couple of the lyrics in my head, even, if I think hard enough. And this one,” he pointed. “ _Teenagers—_ ”

“That was the one you were playing when I showed up,” Kairi said. She wasn’t positive, of course, but she didn’t doubt it’d been that song based on the title. “You sure you’ve never heard these songs before? You seemed to know the lyrics pretty well, based on the couple seconds I heard of you singing.”

“I was _singing?_ ” He turned to her, looking horrified. “Man, and if blaring music out the window wasn’t embarrassing enough!”

Kairi laughed a little at his distress, then brought the conversation back to where it needed to be. “Where’d you even get this CD?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Though… I guess it would explain the lack of munny in my wallet.” He took the disc from her and put it back in the case. “I mean, I wasn’t sure if I was missing any, because I really never count it, yanno, but it seemed like there was some missing. Guess this is where it went.”

It would make sense, Kairi agreed, silently, though the whole matter was still worrying. Playing music loudly was innocent enough, but the fact Sora couldn’t _remember,_ couldn’t remember buying the CD, couldn’t remember _a lot_ of little moments of his life lately. It was worrying. No one _normally_ had gaps in their memories, and the explanations for such behavior weren’t exactly comforting, either…

“Hang on, don’t put it away,” Kairi said. “Why not play a song or two? See if they spark any memories.”

“Guess it’s worth a shot,” Sora agreed, with a shrug. He went over to his desk.

“Make sure the volume’s down,” Kairi told him.

“Uh-huh. Close the window, too, would you? Don’t want any more complaints from the neighbors.”

Kairi moved to do it before he’d even finished asking.

“Let’s see…” he mumbled to himself as he fussed over the Walkman. “Ah, I left the case on my bed, Kai. Which track was _Teenagers?_ Might as well start with that one.”

“Uh, ten—sorry! Eleven.”

“Got it.”

The song was playing within the next few seconds. Sora sat down in his desk chair, closing his eyes, listening. Kairi was dancing a little to it not long after it started—she was right. It was kinda catchy. Maybe she’d borrow the CD from Sora sometime…

Sora started nodding a few lines into the first verse. “Yeah,” he said, raising his voice a little over the music, not that it was very loud. “I mean, no memories, but… I know the lyrics. Or, y’know how you can’t quote them from memory but the moment the song starts you can sing along?” He waited for Kairi’s nod before continuing. “It’s like that. No memories, though. Uh…” He paused, face scrunched up. “Well, I guess there’s kinda a vague sense of dancing around to the song? That’s it, though.”

“Try another,” Kairi suggested.

Sora nodded. “ _This is How I Disappear—_ which track is that? Three, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. That one’s really sticking out to me.”

It must’ve been, for him to remember the track number. The song started, and Sora’s face immediately fell into a grimace.

“What is it?” Kairi asked.

“You ever have a song start and the opening note just… makes you feel something?” Sora replied. He didn’t look at her, but at the floor. “This one’s making me feel like I’m going to be sick.” He swallowed. “ _Without you is how I disappear…_ ” he quoted, then took a deep breath. “Geeze, those hurt for some reason.”

“Any idea why?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t think I want to listen to this anymore,” he said, reaching for the Walkman.

“No, leave it on,” Kairi told him, more pleading than anything else. “You wanna figure out why you have gaps in your memories, don’t you?” she added, after his confused look. He nodded, but hesitantly. “This is the first lead we’ve had, Sora. It’s something.”

“Right.”

He let the song play out, but he said nothing. When the next song started, he sat up straight.

“Yeah?” Kairi prompted.

“I dunno. I just… I feel angry. Upset. About ready to tear at my hair. Bitter. I…” He swallowed again, shaking his head, eyes wide. “I dunno. I— _This alone, you’re in time for the show. You’re the one that I need, I’m the one that you loathe—_ ah!” He reached to turn off the Walkman so fast that he missed the off button and hit the open button instead. It at least had the desired effect of turning off the song.

“Sora—” Kairi began.

He shook his head aggressively. “I don’t want to listen to that song. I don’t like feeling like this.”

“But there’s gotta be—”

“No!” He shouted, cutting her off. He was up and storming for the CD case, putting the disc away with shaking fingers. “I don’t like that song. I’m not turning it back on, Kairi! I’m not listening to it, I’m not—”

“Don’t you want to remember?” Kairi had to raise her own voice to be heard over his.

“ _No!_ ” He rounded on her, eyes wide, lips drawn back in a snarl. He looked wild, frantic, and he slammed the CD case into a drawer of his desk, slamming that shut with a huge amount of force. “I don’t want to know! I don’t want to- I don’t want him to…” His face contorted with aguish, and he raked his hands through his hair.

Kairi stared at him. What had he said…? _‘I don’t want him to…’?_ It wasn’t how the sentence was left unfinished that worried her, it was the presence of the word _him._ Who was Sora referring to? Was this even…

“Sora?” She got to her feet, taking steps towards him, hands outstretched. To steady him? To grab him before he could run? He looked about ready to. “Or… or _are_ you… Sora?”

She’d been doing her readings about memory gaps, and possible causes, and the one that popped up the most seemed to be multiple personality disorder, or… whatever other names it went by. There was a slightly more scientific one that she couldn’t remember. Of course, she was no doctor, but it’d explain the gaps, and explain why Sora wasn’t acting like himself right now. And, perhaps, it wasn’t even a sickness—she hadn’t seen much of him when Ansem was controlling his body, but she’d seen how the darkness had controlled it, and… it was similar to this. Not quite the same, but… similar.

She also thought the way he was acting was horribly familiar, too, she just couldn’t remember who it was she knew who acted like this.

“ _What?_ ” Sora demanded, eyes wide now in what looked closer to terror.

“This is going to sound weird, Sora, if that’s you, but if that’s _not_ you—”

“ _Go away!_ ” he screamed, and he shoved her away from her. “Go away, Kairi! Just- Just _go_ away!”

“Please,” she began.

He shoved her again, harder, towards the window. “ _Please,_ Kairi!” The way his voice caught in anguish, the tilt of his eyes. They were _so_ familiar. Where had she heard it before? Seen it? They immediately brought Sora to mind, but perhaps that was only because she was seeing them on his face. But whoever this was, it wasn’t Sora.

“Listen, I just want to—”

“ _Leave!_ ”

It was a roar, accompanied by a blast of magic. Kairi was too off guard to avoid it, so it hit her dead on. A hiss of pain escaped her mouth, and then she ducked back, and slid out the window, dropping to the ground with an unsurprising lack of grace. The magic, and the way it burned her skin… Darkness? Could it be?

She mumbled a Cure for herself, not knowing how much good it’d do. She shouldn’t have left, and instantly regretted it, but it was hard to argue with those suffering eyes, the horrified tone. Even harder to argue when he was attacking—she could’ve fought back, but it hadn’t been her first instinct. This was Sora, after all… Or, his body…

Who was it, inside his body, though? And why did they seem so… familiar…?


	37. (ATR) Braig and Xehanort wake up in HB

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a scene that's incredibly canon, though some of the conversation got regurgitated for ATRch38 (plot details I needed but obviously couldn't introduce through this scene, because this scene wouldn't have worked as ATRch38.)
> 
> Anyway uh enjoy me practicing my Xehanort voice, having a grand ol' time writing for Braig, and sneaking in some Xehanort character details amongst all this.

A sharp kick to his side was what awoke him. Braig groaned long and hard, recognizing the feel of that boot, recognizing the force of the kick. “Hang on,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “I’m getting up boss, hang on.”

“Good, I got tired of waiting for you to get up on your own.”

Xehanort didn’t sound like Xemnas anymore, he sounded like his old-new self. Braig coughed and pushed himself up, wishing he’d gotten the privilege of a younger new body. Xehanort was still flaunting Terra’s, Braig found, as he opened his eyes. Not that that was a surprise, Braig just wished bodies wouldn’t hurt so much as they got older. No wonder Xehanort had gone looking for new flesh, the whole want-to-see-the-Keyblade-War-before-I-die thing aside.

Braig got to his feet and cracked his neck, looking around. They appeared to be in Ansem’s old research lab—the place where Xehanort had extracted all their hearts and turned them into Nobodies. That brought back pleasant memories. (Not.)

“You expect us to come back, boss?” he asked, rolling his shoulders. His body hadn’t ached this much in _years._

“I hadn’t been counting on it,” Xehanort answered. “But I figured it was a likely outcome, given that Vexen from the other universe was a Somebody, and he had to have been a Nobody at some point, to have the name Vexen.”

“Hey, speaking of the other universe—”

“It’s still not a good idea, Braig,” Xehanort interrupted. “I wouldn’t trust myself in any universe but this own, and we’d have to put up with another set of so-called ‘heroes’ to boot! It’s not worth the effort.”

Braig held up his hands. “If you say so boss.” He thought it would be worth it to at least _check out_ the other universe, just to see how situations were there, but Xehanort’s say was final, and if he said it wasn’t worth it, then it wasn’t worth it. “We still on the plan we’ve been on? Yeah? How many vessels did we need, anyway?”

“Thirteen.”

“Thirteen! Right. Why do I ask?”

Xehanort raised his eyebrows, staring at Braig very evenly. Braig didn’t break the expression on his face, staring back. He was the first to break eye-contact, though. He walked over to the only other thing of note in this room—Even, lying on his stomach, out cold. For the moment.

“He the only one here besides us?” Braig asked, gesturing at Even with his foot. He was careful not to touch Even, lest that wake him. Them talking might eventually do the same, so the sooner he and Xehanort were out of here, the better.

“He was the only other one here when I woke up,” Xehanort replied. “And it seems unlikely anyone else was here, seeing as none of them would’ve left without taking Even with them.”

“Or without slitting our throats.”

“Or that.”

Braig smiled a little.

“Should we be getting out of here before he wakes up? Unless you want to take him with us?”

Xehanort burst out into a short chuckle. Braig laughed as well.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.”

“The only use it would serve is to have his Replica Program,” Xehanort said. He looked down on Even like someone might look down on a small animal who was only being annoying. “And that’s _if_ he was a successful vessel.”

“We don’t need his Replica Program?”

“We don’t need it now, and by the time we might need it, we won’t need him to take it.” Xehanort spoke with a casual confidence. “Let’s go, Braig. The last thing we want is him waking up before we’re gone.”

“You got it.”

 


	38. (ATR) Aerith and Leon are siblings??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's something that could have gone in ATRch48, but there wasn't room. This information is actually more, uh, eloquently explained other places (such as [Aerith's](http://ftpcast.blogspot.com/2016/07/aerith.html) and [Leon's](http://ftpcast.blogspot.com/2016/07/leon.html) character pages,) but! Here's a chapter dedicated specifically to some short explanations!
> 
> More super bonus in depth details about Aerith and Leon being adopted siblings can be found [here!](http://rarmaster.tumblr.com/post/131832623650/okay-because-i-didnt-make-a-post-for-this-chap%22)

"Can… can I ask what happened to your 'real' parents?" Kairi says, knowing very well it's rude, and not necessarily putting that quotation on the real, which has completely different connotations. (Elmyra is their only real parent, though. Just because Laguna and Raine are biologically Leon's parents doesn't make them his "real" parents.)

"Kairi!" Ren is a little shocked, even if she did learn these manners from him.

"I've known them for ages now but I never knew they were siblings. I wanna know!" Kairi argues. "Besides, it's not like we have anything else to talk about until Sora gets here."

"Don't answer the question if it makes you uncomfortable," Ren tells them.

Aerith shrugs.

She sends a look at Leon, because he's the one who's going to care the most.

He shrugs too, he's not a big baby about it anymore, he's grown up.

"Well," Aerith begins. "All I've ever heard is that a woman showed up at Mom's door, fatally wounded, with a baby in her arms. The woman died in the night despite my mother's best efforts, and Mom took the baby in to raise as her own—the baby was me."

(Aerith's is easy. No one knew who her biological mom was, nor who the father even could've been. She does not grow up hearing about them, unlike Leon.)

Leon's turn.

"Raine and Mom were good friends," Leon says, and he's not as comfortable as Aerith was when it comes to explaining it, his explanation carries much more weight than hers does. "So when she passed away, Mom took me in as well. As for… Laguna…" He grimaces hard, just suppressing a groan.

"Laguna got the news Raine had died, but not the news Squall had been born," Aerith explains for him. "So he never came back"

There's a pause.

Then she realizes what she said.

"I mean, that, Leon had been born," she corrects. "Ohhh, Leon forgive me, I never do that."

"You're fine."

"You sure?"

"Positive, Aerith."


	39. (ATR) Bonus: Riku's notes on Kano from ATRch51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mention in sometime around ATRch51 (it might not get mentioned explicitly until ch52) that Riku's made a list of notes about Kano. Here's what those notes are.

\- Sora’s Shadow in Sora’s heart for unknown reasons. I think it had something to do with their last battle, but I wasn’t awake for the details and no one will fill me in. 

\- Sora says his Shadow’s not a threat. Swears he’s changed.

\- He’s apparently the reason I have darkness problems?? Great. [ _as an afterthought, perhaps days later:_ ] But I guess that’s not important. Just as much Vexen’s fault as his.

 

[ information taken during the HB convo in ch51 ]

\- Sora’s Shadow has been named Kano

\- Sora swears Kano “doesn’t want to do his job as a Shadow anymore”, whatever that means. Presumably: “doesn’t want to drag Sora into darkness”—yeah, that’s it

\- Kano can’t hide anything from Sora. Sora ~~says he’s~~ insists this isn’t a trick, he’d know if it was

\-  Probably-Kano says he’s physically incapable of manipulating Sora’s thoughts, and swears he wouldn’t even if he could. I don’t know about actually being incapable, but I believe him when he says he wouldn’t.

(I can’t tell the difference half the time between them when they speak, but what he said implies it was Kano, not Sora)

\- Kano (for sure) says there’s “no point in dragging Sora into darkness” and admits he’s scared (??) about what his life would be if Sora dies – is he dependent on Sora living for him to live, or…? I don’t know enough about Shadows.

\- apparently Sephiroth (Cloud’s Shadow) got tired of doing his job too?? — yeah, I guess that’s a thing, Aerith confirmed it

\- Despite his change of heart, I guess there’s a chance Kano could still slip up and hurt Sora?? I really don’t get this Shadow business. Sora says it’s ridiculous and anyone can change. Leon says Shadows are “purpose driven creatures”

\- Kairi says she trusts Sora if he says Kano can change, because he’s “never been wrong before”. I guess Sora always has had a good sense of character, now that I think about it. She’s probably right. We should trust Sora’s gut.

\- Sora insists again Kano won’t hurt him, doesn’t want to hurt him. I fully believe this.

\- Kano and Sephiroth are different?? Cloud might be wrong about something??

\- Kano surviving/living in Sora’s heart sounds like an anomaly or something


	40. (ATR) in which Kano has a nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a scene I've been sitting on for a very, _very_ long time. It happens towards the beginning of ATR, before Kano's reveal. It's, uh, "hesitantly" canon - I wouldn't put much weight on it actually having happened (which, is a large reason why it hasn't been posted until now) but. I wrote it. and it's interesting. and so, I should share.
> 
> Please enjoy.

Akemi jolted awake at the sound of her son’s startled screams. They fell silent after a second, and she waited with baited breath. This was not the first night Sora had had night terrors. Most nights he would only cry out once or so before falling back asleep. Sometimes he would wake up on his own and just sit and his room and read if he did not think he could fall back asleep—she’d given up talking to him on those nights, because it just made him more distressed. There was no sense getting up now if it was just going to come to either of those things, so she would wait.

She did not have to wait long.

Sora started screaming again. There were words to his screams now—or, one word. A continuing stream of _no, no, no, NO!_ He sounded furious. Akemi threw back the sheets and swung her feet out of bed, sending only one glance at her husband. He was asleep, and would likely not be woken so easily by Sora’s shouting.

“Sora?” Akemi called, down the hall. She did not raise her voice much, mostly so that she would not further disturb Haru. She would not be surprised if he slept through this, but there was also the chance he would wake up if she started screaming as well.

Sora’s screams fell into an incomprehensible whine, and she hurried her way to his room. She found him curled up with his head cradled in his hands, sobbing out words she could only just make out.

“I’m alive. _I’m alive._ ”

It was hard to tell, between the sobs, whether or not he was relieved or horrified.

Akemi reached out to touch his shoulder. “Sora…?”

He went rigid at her touch. Sobs became heavy gasps of air, of panic. He turned to her, eyes wide in what she was _certain_ was horror, before a few swallows managed to get his mouth working properly.

“F-fine,” he stammered. “I’m- I’m fine. Just- just a nightmare. Mmhmm.” He nodded. Muttered a pair of words under his breath that made Akemi’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, though she said nothing. “I’m…”

“Do you… want to talk… about it?” she asked him, haltingly. She was his mother. He’d come to her with his nightmares when he was a child. But that was before the darkness. That was before he’d come back home with that scar across his face—one she still did not have the answer for where it came from.

Sora slowly shook his head. “I… no. No, I’ll… I think I’ll just… lay back down…” He did so, shifting against his pillow. Akemi took a deep breath, but nodded and pulled away.

“Alright,” she told him. As upset she was at him, for being apparently incapable of telling the truth, that did not mean she was not worried. “If you need anything…”

“Yup.”

There was more of an edge in his tone than normal. She decided to blame it on whatever the night terror had been this time. She left his room, flicking off the lights as she went.

She did not see that her son’s eyes were still open when she left. She did not know that sleep would never come to him, that night.


	41. ATR - ch54 from Ven's POV, a little

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because this prose was in my head and I couldn't get it out. Ven feels Vanitas resonating in Sora's chest, and it kills him.

Ven slowly stood up straighter and straighter. There was a pulling on his chest, a pulling so precise—if not strong—that he could point his finger to its source without looking. Sora was approaching. Ven could feel it. More importantly, he could feel Vanitas, within Sora…

The movement stopped a moment. Ven frowned, wondering why, but knowing Sora wasn’t coming any closer just yet. He tried not to worry about it. Maybe he should use this time to warn Aqua and Yen Sid that Sora was on his way, so they could finish their conversation. They were talking about training, because Aqua still wasn’t too sure about the whole thing. (Even though Ven had assured her countless times he thought she’d be _great_ at it, especially considering how quick she was about berating him for _his_ form half the time.)

Ven almost opened his mouth to warn them, too, before he realized everything else he’d be doing in telling them Sora was almost here. He’d have to explain _why_ he knew that. And, even if he could give them the “me and Sora are connected” excuse, he wasn’t sure how well he could pass that lie, even if it was more a half-truth than a lie. He probably could feel Sora, if he tried, but feeling Vanitas was second nature.

He’d have to tell them he could still feel Vanitas. He’d have to tell them Vanitas was alive, and worse, that his heart longed for him so desperately that he could _feel him_ as he got closer.

And, he was getting closer, again, now. Closer, and stronger, and the pulling on Ven was so hard it was all he could do to not walk out the door and towards the source. His and Vanitas’s hearts were drawn to each other. Two halves of a whole.

Ven closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to forget about it. He’d have to get through a whole conversation with Sora—and maybe a whole training session, though it wasn’t like he _had_ to stay and watch—without acting on the pull in his chest. He couldn’t act on it. He was scared of what the result would be, if he did, let alone hated the idea of having to tell Aqua.

She couldn’t know.

She hated Vanitas.

Ven tried not to linger on that thought, because her hating Vanitas was almost like her hating _him,_ but—it didn’t matter. Vanitas was gone. Vanitas was gone, except whatever it was that beat inside Sora’s heart and called to Ven. Vanitas was gone. Vanitas was gone. Vanitas _wasn’t_ gone, he was _still there,_ and he was _almost in this room—_

The tugging suddenly stopped, completely, entirely.

It was worse than having a bucket of cold water dumped down his spine (and, he would know, it was Aqua’s favorite way to get him to wake up when he was being stubborn). He didn’t know why it stopped, just that based on the pulling, Sora was still right outside the door. And, if he felt, he could feel _Sora_ still there, but… no Vanitas. He wanted to laugh, cry, with relief or pain, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t have time to figure it out, either.

The door was thrown open by Sora’s much more excitable friend, Kairi. Maybe _excitable_ wasn’t the right word for her. She reminded him of Terra (strong, just with none of the gentleness and carefulness) and a little of Aqua (bossy and a little tactless sometimes) but other than that, she was just…

She was Kairi, and it was hard to compare her to anything else, because… he knew her almost as well as Sora did, or he knew an echo of her. Seven years in someone else’s heart would do that. He knew Sora felt the same way about Aqua, at least, if not Terra as well.

(So long as he thought about this, he could forget about Vanitas, could forget about the pulling, could forget the hollow feeling that had seemed to take root inside his chest. It was better this way. He couldn’t fix the longing, anyway. The longer he could pretend it didn’t exist, the better.)


	42. ATR ch58 - a bit from Vexen's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin. I was trying to remember my Vexen voice. And also figure out why the hell he was so irritated, lol. Has fun Vexen+Even dynamics, as well as fun Vexen+Riku dynamics.

He and Even both stepped out into the Main Room, finding Aerith and Leon on Riku’s usual couch. They were in the middle of a phonecall, which they were quick to finish once they noticed him and Even standing there. Vexen sighed a little, still wondering why Even had elected to make them wait out here. Sure, maybe it _would_ have gotten crowded if he hadn’t, but, still. Walking out to them just to tell them good news seemed like such an unnecessary thing.

Riku wasn’t with them, Vexen realized, almost immediately. When he inquired as to where Riku was, Aerith and Leon both pointed in a direction to their right, Vexen’s left. He turned his attention that way, and found Riku and Joseph sitting on the next closest set of couches.

Joseph noticed, first, but he was quick to let Riku know by pointing and slapping Riku on the back. Vexen cringed a little to see it, though it was mostly internally—he’d gotten very good at keeping all those emotions off his face a long time ago.

For all of Joseph’s carelessness, Riku seemed just fine when he approached. Or, at least, in the not-trying-to-hide-a-minor-panic-attack sense. He was still much paler than he should’ve been, with extremely pronounced bags under his eyes. He collapsed into the couch next to Aerith almost gratefully, without acknowledging Vexen or Even with more than a partial wave.

Vexen bit his tongue and drew himself a little taller. They did not have any sort of fantastic news to give them, but they had good news, and the least he could do was look confident when he delivered it.

Or, while Even delivered it. Vexen supposed that was fine, it was his idea to write the translation program anyway, and this had become his project as much as Vexen’s, but it was still a slight sting to his pride. Most things Even did were a slight sting to his pride.

“Well, I was hoping to stand here and deliver the best news I possibly could, but, unfortunately, we ran into a problem. It’s nothing to worry about, of course—I had only hoped I could tell you we’d finished with the program that would translate your data and fix this problem today, but, we ran into a snag.”

Vexen held back a long suffering sigh. Did Even have to introduce it so dramatically?

“A snag?” Aerith pressed. She looked worried, as did Leon and—well, Riku looked annoyed, not worried. Vexen had not once seen him appear worried about this, just like him. Of course he would not be worried about his own impending death.

“Expected, when writing any sort of program,” Vexen said, with perhaps more irritation than the answer really warranted. Aerith meant well, and Vexen wasn’t angry with her. He was just worried about Riku. “It’s a miraclet worried about Riku. ell, and Vexen wasn'to being fixed didn'dn'd about this, just like him. anyway, and this had be we haven’t run into any before this. But—”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Even finished, cutting him off. Something he did a lot. Vexen knew it was pointless and petty, but he sent a glare in Even’s direction anyway. “Outside of this snag, the program is basically finished. We should have everything cleared up in a few days, and then we should be able to fix you, Riku.” He smiled a winning smile that Vexen was _not_ jealous off, he wasn’t!

Riku raised his eyebrows skeptically, and the sight made Vexen’s blood boil.

“ _Really_?” he asked, like he didn’t believe it, because of course he wouldn’t, of course he’d press and be biting and rude and _it wasn’t his fault if it was anyone’s it was Larxene’s_ but it still infuriated Vexen to see. It was an effort to keep himself from shouting. Knowing how that would affect Riku was the only thing that did it.

“Yes, _really,_ Riku,” he said. He said, not shouted, but there was still an obvious thread of irritation in his voice and he saw Riku flinch at it and his heart broke a little inside. He paused, took a deep breath, and continued as evenly and as kindly as he possibly could muster right now: “I told you I’d fix it, didn’t I?”

“Just took you so long I thought it might never happen,” Riku replied, and though he’d swapped from biting to playful, it still made Vexen’s face scrunch up.

 


	43. (ATR) Scars - Aqua

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ven contemplates the scars that trail Aqua's skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was written shortly after I started subscribing to the "Aqua has scars" headcanon, though also, before 0.2 was a thing. Meaning, at least most obviously: Aqua would not be ask comfy in front of a mirror as she actually is in this scene. But I'm too lazy to edit this whole thing just for that so, uh, don't worry about it.

Ven lay on his bed in Yen Sid’s tower, staring up at the ceiling. No particular reason why, he was just… chilling.

He shared this room with Aqua, who wasn’t here right now. It wasn’t that they _had_ to share a room, it was just, easier on the both of them. He had nightmares, she couldn’t sleep most nights, and it was easier to cope with that if they were in the same room. They had separate beds, though. They shared, on the worst nights, but they _did_ have separate ones.

Ven’s bed was on the left of the door, and Aqua’s on the right. Each only had their headboards pressed against the same wall, nothing more. Ven’s dresser sat on the wall opposite, perfectly aligned with the foot of the bed. The door to the bathroom was in the same spot on Aqua’s side, so Aqua’s dresser was up against the wall adjacent to her bed. That was all the furnishing in this room.

They’d settled down here, at Yen Sid’s, for the time being. It was easier for Aqua to train Sora this way, plus they both knew finding Terra just by searching the worlds was unlikely. They’d checked every world. And, they both knew where he probably was, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

The door creaked open, sparing him from that thought. Ven looked up. It was Aqua.

“You look tired,” Ven said, propping himself up on his elbows.

Aqua nodded, distractedly, which meant she was _definitely_ tired, or she would’ve blown him off. She moved a few paces into her side of the room, rubbing at the bridge of her nose and looking between the conjoint bathroom and her dresser.

“Do you want me to…?” Ven began, not sure if he should offer to leave or go get her anything or, what. He left the question open ended, so she could fill it in.

“I’m alright, Ven,” Aqua assured him, with a wave of her hand, which was more like her. Ven smiled a little.

He knew these practice sessions were good for her (practice by herself, not with Sora—it was done in the interest of keeping the higher end techniques she knew from growing rusty), but he worried. He was always worried about her.

“Well, don’t push yourself too hard,” Ven said, settling back down on the bed.

Aqua sent him a quick smile. Despite the tiredness in her body, there was a gleam in her eyes. “Trust me, I won’t. I just lost track of time today.”

“I’m serious about getting you a watch, or, a timer of some kind, at least!”

Aqua rolled her eyes and flapped a hand at him again, moving for the dresser. She reached into the top drawer and pulled out one of the looser shirts the tower’s wardrobe had insisted on providing her and Ven both with. (Magic wardrobes meant they got suitable or sometimes identical replacements for their regular clothes outside of that, at least, which was nice.) It was as she was reaching into the second drawer that Ven noticed something.

Well, maybe noticed wasn’t the right word. It wasn’t this was the first time he’d noticed—he’d noticed this before. He’d just never taken the time to ask her about it.

Creeping up her pale skin (paler than it ever had been, paler than it should be, because a thousand days of sun would never make up for all the days she’d gone without) and onto the exposed section of her back were various scars. In fact, “various” was an understatement. There were more than Ven could count at a glance, some thin and white, others large and jagged, all crisscrossing over each other. He didn’t doubt there were even more where he couldn’t see them.

“Aqua…?” he said, slowly.

She set the change of shorts on top of the dresser and turned to him. Her eyes narrowed.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

Ven chewed at his lip, feeling nervous. Was it alright, to ask her about this? Would she mind? Was it one of those things she didn’t want to talk about? He wanted to know, though. He had to know.

“Your back,” he said. “It’s all, uh… covered in scars…”

Aqua raised her eyebrows a fraction of an inch. Just a fraction. “Is it?” she asked. Her tone simultaneously implied she’d had no idea, but also was entirely unsurprised.

Ven chose to focus on only one of those emotions. “Well, yeah, though I guess you can’t see them…” He’d only just said that when the tower did exactly what it was good at: provide him with what he wanted when he needed it. A mirror appeared on the wall between his bed and his dresser, where there was the most space for it.

Aqua raised her eyebrows at Ven, but moved over to the mirror anyway. Either she was humoring him, or she was curious herself. She turned around, craning her neck to look over her shoulder. Her eyes darkened. She took a carefully deep breath.

Ven got out of his bed and joined her, hovering anxiously over her shoulder. Between being this close to her and purposefully looking, he saw scars crisscrossing on her shoulders and her arms, too.

“You… sure have a lot…” Ven whispered. His stomach felt a little queasy. Scars weren’t inherently bad, he just, didn’t like thinking about where Aqua’d gotten all of these.

Aqua laughed—not as brightly as normal, but a laugh. “Like you don’t,” she said, with a little teasing smile.

Ven followed her gaze down to his own arms, which were lined with long faded scars. He knew he’d gotten them from defending himself from something—maybe regularly?—but the rest of the memories had never come back to him. (He had another scar, on his chest, from where Xehanort had used heart magic to extract Vanitas from him. _That_ he remembered.)

“Yeah, but, this is different,” Ven protested, feeling himself pout. Aqua laughed genuinely now, which he kind of hated because this was _serious,_ but also was glad to hear. She didn’t laugh nearly enough.

“I guess it is,” Aqua agreed, ruffling his hair. “But don’t worry about me. I’m alright, honestly.”

Ven looked down. “I just wish you didn’t have to hurt like you did…”

“I wish none of us had to.” Aqua bent down a little, tilting his chin up. “But we’re alright now, aren’t we? _I’m alright_.” She repeated the last part with a firm emphasis.

Ven let out a sigh. She wasn’t wrong. They weren’t in as good shape as they had been before all this—and, they probably would never be again—but they were doing okay. He wasn’t completely comatose or camping in Sora’s body. She wasn’t in the Realm of Darkness any longer.

And, he trusted her. He trusted her, when she said she was alright. She was surviving. Still living. Still moving forward. The both of them were.

Ven turned a smile to her. “Yeah,” he said. Then narrowed his eyes, making himself look serious. “Still, you can’t push yourself too hard! I know training and practice and all that is _important,_ but Aqua…”

“Alright, alright,” Aqua laughed. She kissed him on the head, and moved to go gather her clothes. “I’ll get myself a watch. But for right now, I’d like a shower, and a nap.”

Feeing successful, and significantly less worried, Ven grinned.


	44. (Prequel) In which Squall meets Laguna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps the only excerpt from FtPverse's take on FF8 I'll ever write. Anyway uh it's, what it says on the tin.

They’d gotten a message from Esthar’s President. He wanted to know if they were interested in helping take care of Adel. Of course, since they had been involved this long, they really couldn’t offer any other answer but yes. So the six of them (Aerith and Squall and Zack, along with Rinoa who’d first hired them, and the SeeDs Quistis and Zell) went to Esthar.

They were escorted closely through Esthar, probably due to Rinoa’s sorceress status, and eventually ushered right to the President. They’d been in the Presidential Palace before, but never in this section of it. It was as pretty as the rest of Esthar, Aerith decided. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever stop marveling at the fact all the buildings were made almost entirely out of glass.

The President’s room was small and hardly furnished. The walls and ceiling were both glass, though tinted to keep the sunlight from streaming in too drastically. The floor was carpeted. The room had a rounded shape to it, and on either side of the door was a small table, each holding a vase filled with white flowers.

The flowers caught Aerith’s attention almost as much as anything else—they smelled familiar, looked familiar. Her mother always had them growing around the house. She said they reminded her of an old friend.

Pulling her attention away from the flowers—they _really_ were the same ones, she was sure of it!—Aerith looked last to the three other people in this room besides their group.

One of them sat in the chair behind the desk, though he had it turned to face the window of a wall, so he could look out over the city. The other two stood on either side of the desk, one tall and thin, the other taller and of a bulky build. Bodyguards? Friends?

“Mr. President?” the thin one said.

“Wh…? Oh!” The man in the chair spun around, and upon seeing his guests, broke into a grin. He pushed out of his chair and moved around in front of the desk to greet them.

The President was of an average height and an average build. While his bodyguards were dressed formally, he was dressed completely casual. His sleeves were rolled up, his shirt partially unbuttoned and completely untucked from his pants. His long dark hair was pulled back loosely. And… there was something about him that was familiar.

Feeling Squall’s eyes on her, Aerith turned to him. He looked like he was having similar thoughts as her.

They both recognized this man, but… where from?

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to meet you guys!” the President said, waving. “You guys are the ones who’ve been going around fighting Sorceresses, right?” he asked.

“That’s us,” Zack said, with a nod and a winning grin that would rival the President’s.

He and Zell had stepped forward to do most of the talking. Quistis usually would have, in Zell’s place, but ever since Rinoa had become a Sorceress herself, Quistis rarely left her side. Even now, she was standing close to Rinoa, providing silent support.

“We got a message from you about Adel?” Zell asked.

The President waved his hand through the air, looking a bit disgruntled. “Aw, straight to business, just like every SeeD,” he grumbled. “What about pleasantries? Introductions? Here, I’ll go first.”

The President put one hand back on his desk behind him, leaning against it, then reached up and tapped himself up in the chest with the other hand.

“I’m Laguna,” he said. “Laguna Loire.”

_Laguna Loire._

Aerith’s heart skipped a beat in her chest. A memory came back to her. The image of a picture on the bookshelf in the front room of their old house. An old photograph of a man and woman smiling together. _This_ man.

Squall made a quiet wheezing sound beside her. His hand brushed hers as he searched for something to steady himself. She gripped his arm tightly, trying to help hold him up. He looked like he was about to be sick.

“Whoa! What’s wrong with your friend there?” asked the President of Esthar, Laguna, _Squall’s father._

Zack and Zell both turned around to look at them. “Squall…?” came Rinoa’s voice, from Aerith’s left.

Squall took a staggering step forward. Aerith wrapped her left hand around his arm, so that she could move her right to his back, trying to hold him up with her own weight. It wasn’t easy. Her own legs felt like jelly.

“ _YOU!_ ” Squall shouted, pointing a trembling finger at Laguna. “You- _you…!!_ ”

His mouth worked for words. He couldn’t seem to find any. But, how was he supposed to find words to say to the man who never came back for him? How was _she_ supposed to find words to say to the man who, even if unintentionally, had hurt her little brother so?

“ _Me?_ What- what about me?” Laguna asked. He looked to everyone else in the room, trying to see if any of them understood what was going on. He seemed confused. And, extremely uncomfortable. Both his bodyguards had tensed.

“Squall, come on,” Zack said, stepping towards him, hands outstretched. “Now’s _really_ not a good time to be yelling at the President of—”

Squall shoved him away. “No, now’s the _perfect time_! It’s been eighteen years—I think I’ve waited long enough!!”

“Aerith…” Zack pleaded, looking to her around Squall.

She met his eyes, but she didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything. She kept her lips pressed together. She wanted answers as bad as Squall did. She wanted closure as bad as he needed it. Maybe this wasn’t the best way, but, she wasn’t going to stop him.

“E-Eighteen _years_?” Laguna squinted at Squall. “Why would you be— _Who_ are you!?”

Voice shaking, tears in his eyes, Squall replied:

“I’m _your son_!”

Laguna took a step back. Zack lowered his hands. Aerith heard Quistis gasp.

“Eighteen years!” Squall shouted, and now, he pushed away from Aerith. “Eighteen years, I waited for you to come back for me! But _no._ No! I guess you didn’t want to.”

Aerith cast her gaze down, not able to bear the distress on Squall’s face, not wanting to look at Laguna. Out of the corner of her eye, she still saw Laguna hold up his hands.

“Now, hang on, I didn’t know I had a son!” he protested.

“Well _great!_ Just great!” Squall threw his hands in the air. “He had no idea I existed, Aerith, isn’t that just _fantastic_!?”

“That’s what Mom said had probably happened…” Aerith muttered. Squall must not have heard her.

He took another step towards Laguna. Aerith looked up in alarm. One more, and she’d stop him. The yelling was one thing, but she wasn’t going to let him _hit_ anyone. He was wagging his finger threateningly at Laguna.

“Your wife! My mom!! I mean, she’s not my—” Squall broke off with a growl, swiped his hand through the air. “ _RAINE!_ ” he screamed. “I mean Raine! She had me after you left, and then she died, and you obviously got the news she died, because you didn’t come back. But Mom _told you,_ she sent you a letter, we sent you letters telling you I’d been born, trying to get your attention— _are you telling me you didn’t read them!?_ ”

“Squall, that’s enough,” Zack said, stepping between Squall and Laguna.

“Yeah, come on, man,” Zell stepped in right beside him. “We get that you’re upset, but—”

“Oh _can it,_ both of you!” Squall screamed. “You _don’t_ get it, you don’t—” Squall trembled for a moment, eyes burning, and then he threw a hand up. “WHATEVER! FORGET IT!” He turned on his heel and stalked out the door.

A tension seemed to leave the room with him.

“I’m so sorry…” Laguna said. He had hand on his hip, the other rubbing his head in a way that very much reminded Aerith of Squall.

“Aerith,” Rinoa began, but Aerith shook her head.

She was the one who had to answer the questions, now, and she understood that. She just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bear to.

It wasn’t her, who’d been left behind, but this hurt her as much as it did Squall— _because_ it hurt Squall. It was hard, it had always been hard, to watch her little brother get worked up like this. She’d seen him cry a lot, but never as much as when he talked about the father who abandoned him.

“I didn’t read all of the letter,” Laguna admitted, a pain in his voice. “I remember getting that letter from Elmyra, I remember reading that Raine had- that…” He shook his head. Ran his hand through his hair. “I just couldn’t read the rest…”

“That’s alright,” Aerith said. Her voice sounded distant, tinny, like it wasn’t coming out of her own mouth. “I understand.”

She understood that he had to stop reading the letter out of grief. The rest…

“And, I swear,” Laguna continued. “I haven’t seen any other letters from Elmyra! If I had—”

Aerith nodded, to cut him off. He didn’t stop there, though.

“I really am sorry,” he said. “Do you think… do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Aerith swallowed. It didn’t really feel like any of her organs were still in her body, or at least, they weren’t in the right places if they were. But she took a deep breath. She made herself answer anyway.

“I can’t speak for Squall.” She wrung her hands together, stared at them, because she couldn’t bear to look at anyone else. “But… if it makes you feel any better… I do.”

“Huh?”

“I mean…” Aerith paused to laugh at herself, at her selfishness. “I know it’s the wrong thing to celebrate, but I… I don’t want to imagine my life without Squall as my brother. And, if you _had_ gotten any of Mom’s letters, well…”

She trailed off there. She didn’t need to say the rest.

“It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Loire,” Aerith said, lifting her head. She didn’t look long at him, though, she turned almost immediately to address Zack. “If you guys want to discuss the plans for Adel without us, go ahead.”

Steadying herself with a deep breath, Aerith followed after Squall.

 

**xxx**

 

“Squall…?”

She found him outside in the hallway, not really that far from the President’s Room at all. He was slumped against the wall, back pressed into it, a hand covering his face. She could not hear him sobbing, or anything, but Aerith knew her brother better. She also chose not to say anything, even as he hastily wiped his tears away.

“I’m fine,” he told her, and it was gruffly. He was already looking away, moving as if to push from the wall and—

Aerith caught him by the arm. “I… I get it, Squall,” she whispered. He understood that, didn’t he? She wanted to say _that wasn’t easy for me, either,_ but it just felt insensitive, like the wrong thing to say. “I…”

“I shouldn’t have yelled,” Squall said. He didn’t pull his arm away from her, but he didn’t turn around, either.

“You had every right to,” Aerith argued. And she firmly believed that. Even if Laguna had not meant to cause Squall this pain, Squall still had every right to be upset.

“But he’s the _President_ of this place,” Squall continued, and now he rounded on her. That made Aerith pause. He had a point there. “And I made myself look like a complete idiot in front of everyone—” He raked his free hand through his hair, eyes wide in horror, in regret.

Aerith pulled away, and held her hands up in front of him, trying to soothe him. He _was_ getting taller than her, and she hated it. “Listen, listen, Squall…” she said, carefully. “Our friends understand. And yes, maybe you shouldn’t have yelled at Laguna—but he’s your father before the President…”

“I don’t _want_ him to be my father,” Squall grumbled. He pushed Aerith’s hands away. “Who needs him?”

A half-hearted, mostly unintentional smile played across Aerith’s lips. She moved towards Squall, leaning against his side, pressing her arm against his. There was no desire in her to argue with that, but no words she could find that would kindly convey she felt the same way. Squall wouldn’t care if she was rude, but it was a hard habit to break (and maybe that was for the best).

“I mean, what if he had come back for me?” Squall said. “Then what? I would’ve grown up here. President’s son. Maybe that would’ve been nice, but, would I have ever gone back to Radiant Garden? Ellone’s great, but…” He shifted to pull his arm away from Aerith, then wrap it around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t want anyone but you for a sister.”

Aerith looped her arms around Squall, to squeeze him tight. The _oof_ of air going out of him was quite satisfying. “Me neither,” she told him.

He laughed, breathless, and she eased up on how tight she squeezed him. He squeezed her back twice as hard, so, she supposed they were even.


	45. (ATR) Yuffie Gainsborough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Yuffie is irrevocably a part of this family in FtPverse, she still didn't introduce herself with the Gainsborough last name in ATRch48. The reason is I wanted to highlight the "Leon and Aerith have been adopted siblings since basically birth" thing and, didn't want to drop details about Yuffie on top of that, but...
> 
> Well, I had to reconcile it in-story, too. So here's a chapter about why she didn't, and when she starts.

_“Alrigh’, well, I’m Cid. Highwind, since I guess we’re doing that last name thing.” He looked at Kairi’s dad from across the table, chewing his tongue for a moment. “Uh, d’you wanna shake my hand, or should we just skip that bit since we’re on opposite ends of the table?”_

_Kairi’s dad laughed. “We can skip it.”_

_“You know who I am,” Riku said, since he was next in the circle._

_Yuffie sunk a little further down in her chair, wishing a bit she wasn’t here right now. She_ could _have sat this out, but oh no, she wanted too badly to be involved. It was—nothing, really, the last name thing, but. But even if she told herself that, in reality, it was a lot. Not remembering hers, not remembering her parents at all. Not having anything to call herself._

_“Yuffie,” she said, because she had to say something. Her mouth stuttered a couple extra seconds, wanting to tack on ‘Gainsborough’, because that’s what she was, wasn’t she? Except Kairi had seemed so surprised to hear it from Leon and Aerith both, and…_

_She was a part of this family. She knew that._

_But the ease Aerith and Leon had gone through their explanation “adopted by the same woman” “not related by blood” “but what does that matter when we were raised together since birth?”—Did that apply to her, too? She’d barely even known them five years, now. To say she was a Gainsborough, when she wasn’t even that close to them… Was she allowed?_

_(Of course she was, she knew. But she still couldn’t make her mouth say the word.)_

_So:_

_“Just Yuffie,” she finished, keeping her eyes to the ground, unable to look at anything else. It was—fine, really. It was fine._

 

**xxx**

 

There was a knock on her half-open door, and then Aerith pushed her head in. Yuffie looked up, a little surprised, a tiny bit skeptical. She was lying across her bed, playing Tetris on her GBA. (One part because she was stuck on every other game she owned, two parts in hope she could _finally kick one of Riku’s dumb high scores off the scoreboard_.)

“Yuffie… can we talk?” Aerith asked.

Yuffie pushed herself up onto her elbows, now _extremely_ skeptical. She narrowed her eyes, hitting pause on Tetris.

“What… did I do?” she asked, a clutch of discomfort in her stomach. She’d probably done something wrong, based on Aerith’s tone and the all-familiar _can we talk_. Yuffie couldn’t imagine what she’d done, though. She’d be nice this morning, when they talked to Kairi and Sora, and it wasn’t like she was being mean to Riku—she liked him too much to be _really_ mean to him, except on accident—so…

“Oh, no! You didn’t do anything,” Aerith said, quickly. Yuffie still squinted at her, not quite believing it. “Can I sit down?”

“Sure.”

Yuffie sat up and tossed the GBA to the side of the bed, folding her legs under her. She was sitting dead center on the bed, while Aerith sat on the edge of it, turning a little to face Yuffie. She smiled, gently, like she always did, and Yuffie sent a nervous smile back.

“What’s… up?” she asked, since Aerith hadn’t said anything yet.

Aerith had that pensive look, though, like she was still having trouble gathering her thoughts, her words. Yuffie didn’t press again, even though her stomach seemed determined to tie itself in knots while she waited.

Finally, Aerith took a deep breath, and looked at Yuffie a little more directly.

“It’s… a little thing, really,” she said in a way that made it clear it wasn’t a little thing at all. “But when we introduced ourselves to Ren, this morning—I mean, you can introduce yourself as whatever you want, but...”

“I- oh.”

The words came so softly from Yuffie’s mouth that Aerith did not seem to hear them.

“If you _want_ to call yourself a Gainsborough, it’s okay? It seemed like you wanted to, for a second there. And if you did—or if you do, at all…” Aerith sent Yuffie what had to be a strong contender for gentlest smile she’d ever seen on Aerith’s lips. There was such a softness, a fondness in her eyes. “You can, really. It’s okay.”

A smile tugged at Yuffie’s lips for a second. This was maybe the last thing she expected right now, and it was good to hear, but also—She ducked her head down, so Aerith wouldn’t see her smile falter, wouldn’t see the tears that started burning in her eyes. Something familiar and awful tugged in her chest.

“I… I know,” she said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. “I just—I feel like I’m not allowed.”

“Oh, _Yuffie_.” And the way Aerith’s voice cracked with surprise and, and with _pain—_ that hurt worse than maybe anything else in this moment. “That’s not true at all!”

“I know,” Yuffie said again. Because, she did know that these worries she felt were silly and wrong but she couldn’t stop feeling them and that was the most, _most_ frustrating thing. Hot tears poured down her cheeks. “It’s stupid. It’s not true. But I feel like—it’s not mine to take. It’s- It’s yours and Leon’s, and- _that’s_ special.”

It _being_ Aerith’s and Leon’s, being something they shared, that made it special. It made it special because it was theirs, and because it was only theirs. How could she take that? How could she insert herself into another place she didn’t quite fit in?

“Yuffie, that’s not—” Aerith fumbled for words. “I mean, it is, but… You’re family too!”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Yuffie began, but no, no that was wrong. “I mean- It _does,_ I just. Sometimes I feel like- like I still don’t quite belong.” That wasn’t really right either. “Like I’m? Like I’m left out. Like I’m- I’m not as close.”

“Yuffie…”

“Because- because it’s not like I ever knew your mom! It’s not like I ever got to meet Zack! Even Cloud and Tifa and Rinoa—they- they all got to know your mom, and they were all friends with Zack, and me? I’m just! I’m just the girl you picked up when Radiant Garden fell. I’m just the girl who stuck around because- because she liked knowing where her next meal was coming from.”

Yuffie slumped over in shame and exhaustion, clutching her arms to her chest. It was stupid, really. These feelings were stupid, and Aerith didn’t need to know all of them, and—

Aerith put her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. Yuffie let her, burying her face in Aerith’s chest and trying to stop crying so dang much. Aerith ran fingers through her hair, whispering “Yuffie, Yuffie, Yuffie…” to soothe her.

When Yuffie stopped crying start so hard, and wrapped her arms around Aerith to return the hug, Aerith kissed her gently on the head.

“You forget,” she whispered, and the words were soft and full of affection. “You’re also the girl I tore Traverse Town apart to find again, that last time you ran off.”

Yuffie let out a small laugh that was maybe more like a sob, fresh tears forming in her eyes at the reminder. She’d kept slipping off in Traverse Town after they first arrived, feeling like she wasn’t allowed to stay. The memory of Aerith finding her that last time made a warmth bubble up in her chest. The memory of Aerith taking her hands, looking her in the eyes, and telling her very firmly that she needed to stop running off like that, she’d worried them so much, she could stay, she could stay, she could stay. ( _It was Aerith’s tears in the memory, the way her voice cracked, that Yuffie cherished most. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the offer of a place to stay, it was just—she’d never had anyone really worry about her, before that moment. She didn’t know people could.)_

“Y- yeah,” Yuffie said, smiling broadly around her tears.

Aerith hugged her a little tighter.

“And I’m- I’m sorry you feel left out,” she said, voice catching a bit on the words. She truly was sorry, even though…

“’S not really your fault,” Yuffie told her.

Aerith sighed deeply. “I know,” she answered. “But I’m still sorry you feel that way. And trust me, Yuffie—there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t wish you could have even just _met_ my mom, or Zack. But not knowing them? That doesn’t mean you’re not family, doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

“I… I know,” Yuffie said. Of course she knew—had always known. But it was nice to hear it, again. And it was nice to have all these stupid feelings off her chest.

Aerith pulled away from Yuffie now to look at her very seriously. “And come on, Yuffie,” she said sternly, though there was a hint of laughter in her voice. “You’ve been my sister for five years, now. When are you going to start using my last name?”

Yuffie laughed a little too. She knew Aerith wouldn’t be this pushy if Aerith knew she didn’t want it. And—she did want it.

“Come on,” Aerith said. She leaned in, a glint in her eyes, smiling widely. Then she whispered, as if it was some kind of great secret: “ _Yuffie Gainsborough_.”

Yuffie clapped her hands to her face, squealing a little bit with delight. It was—good, so good to hear. The names seemed to fit together perfectly, like… Like she’d always belonged. Like she’d never even had another name.

“Come on,” Aerith pressed, laughing. “Try it out.”

Yuffie shifted her hands just enough to uncover her mouth.

“Yuffie- Yuffie Gainsborough,” she said. She’d only gotten the first syllable of the last name— _her_ last name—out before a grin spread rapidly across her face. She bounced on her knees, squealing in delight again.

Aerith laughed, and then: “Yuffie Gainsborough,” she repeated, fervently, excitedly.

“Yuffie Gainsborough!” Yuffie said back, bouncing a little harder, squeezing her hands to her face. There was such an unspeakable joy swelling up inside her chest.

They went on this for a couple of minutes. Yuffie savored the way the words felt in her mouth, the way they fit next to each other. She savored the way they sounded when Aerith said them. Savored the fondness, the joy with which Aerith spoke her name.

It was good. It was hers.

Yuffie Gainsborough.


	46. (NF) Joseph and 29 move to C.O.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin. Happens shortly before chapter 13 of Nothing's Fair, which is... probably obvious lol.

“Why are we doing this, anyway?” Joseph called, stumbling a little—the amount of items in his arms wasn’t a large amount, but it was enough to keep him off-balance. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked the question, and it wasn’t the first time 29 ignored it.

He was moving Joseph to Castle Oblivion. Many other Replicas were starting to move there, Replicas who were starting to form a Rebellion, and if they could stay out of Saix’s radar when they were under his nose, then Joseph could too. Besides, that Xion girl had been managing staying out of everyone’s radar for a month or so, now. There was hope.

“29, what’s going on?” Joseph asked. 29 was grateful the boy’s arms were full, or he would be tugging on his cloak. “Huh? Is something going on? Should I be worried? Huh? 29, why won’t you answer me?”

“We’re just…” 29 swallowed, then forced a smile onto his face, hoping it would follow into his voice. “Remember that Rebellion people are whispering about, Joseph? We’re joining it.” It wasn’t the best thing to tell the boy, unfortunately, but the real reason could wait. He blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. The real reason would wait. It would have to.

“Really? _Neat!_ ” In his excitement, Joseph nearly dropped all the items in his arms—items from his old room, that he was transferring in the move. 29 had things, too, though what he carried was merely a sack of Joseph clothes, and a smaller bag with his own personal belongings. They were few. Joseph was carrying all of his toys and… well, perhaps toys was the only good term for all his various knick-knacks—there was really nothing else to call them, as a whole.

“Yes,” 29 replied, distractedly.

“Are Raymond and Patrick coming?” Joseph asked. 29 staggered a step. “Speaking of, I haven’t seen Raymond in _ages_! Is he still mad at me? Because if he is, this is getting _ridiculous!_ If he’s gotta problem, he shouldn’t—29? ”

29 had staggered and stopped completely. The inquiry about Joseph’s friends was like a knife to his heart. Tears welled up in his eyes, tears that he didn’t dare wipe away, because then Joseph would certainly notice them. He had to tell Joseph, he had to, but… not now. Not now. The thought of doing it made him feel sick.

“Are you okay?” Joseph asked, trotting back to 29.

“Fine,” 29 said, through clenched teeth. Smile. He had to smile. He couldn’t worry Joseph, not now. He didn’t have the strength to break the boy’s heart. He didn’t think he ever would.

“Y’sure…?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” 29 stalked forward. “Come on, now, we’re almost to your new room.” Did he sound happy enough? Was Joseph going to ask? He didn’t think he could withstand another question, didn’t think he could bear lying through a smile, not another time.

How he managed to get Joseph to his room and leave to collect himself without Joseph asking another question or insist on following, 29 wasn’t sure, but he did it. He left Joseph to set up his new room, and he went around a corner or three, to somewhere he could collect himself in privacy. Or, at least, in _some_ privacy.

Raymond, dead. Joseph, a target, along with Patrick. And Raymond wasn’t the only Experiment, either, there had been plenty others. All killed, because Saix deemed them useless.

29 brought a hand to his face, trying to stifle his sobs and his tears. If the Program collapsing on itself and splitting in two wasn’t enough. The Experiments… As if Saix had the right…

“Are you okay?”

29 jumped at the sound of the voice. It was Roxas, at least, not Joseph. Roxas looked confused, worried, and perhaps a bit startled. 29 tried his best to compose himself.

“I’m—”

And then it all came out in a rush.


	47. (AU) a name on each wrist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe everyone over here remembers the AU I wrote for gen KH under this prompt, but actually I wrote the FtPverse version first. Which I mention only because I think some of the ways I wrote this one informed how I went about the other one, but, whatever.
> 
> Mega spoilers up through around ATRch40. Please do not read ahead if you haven't read that far in ATR yet.

Everyone was born a name on each wrist.

No one really knew why, it was just the way things had always been. On your left, you had the name of your soulmate. On your right, the name of your biggest rival.

Sora probably didn’t think more about the names on his wrists than any other person did. Kairi was on his left, and, after knowing her for fourteen years, he couldn’t say he was surprised. His name was on her wrist, as well. The funny thing was, on both of their right wrists, they had the same name.

Xehanort.

They liked to speculate what kind of person he was, and predict how long it’d be before they’d meet him. They decided it would be years and years, when they were older, when they were adults. Of course they did. When you live a normal life, the place you find your rival is going to come in school, or work.

It’d be a while before they found out how wrong they were.

 

**xxx**

 

Riku and Namine did not have names on their wrists. No Replica did—because this was not something you could predict with science.

Nobodies lacked names on their wrists, too. Things like that are lost, when you lose your heart.

(Xehanort never had any names on either wrist, even when he was young.)

 

**xxx**

The name on Sora’s wrist changed.

He didn’t know if this was normal. He knew of names fading, but he’d never heard about them _changing_. It worried him, a little, and perhaps it contributed to problems he faced during those months of darkness and distress.

Kairi’s name on his left wrist was replaced with the name Kano.

He noticed it after Riku had taken him to Castle Oblivion. He’d looked down, and, Kairi’s name was gone. That, more than his memories, worried him. He didn’t know why the name had changed, and had no way of knowing that it was really do to circumstances that—at the time of his birth, when the names were first written on his wrists—were never supposed to take place. He assumed it was because she was no longer meant to be his soulmate.

And, in his darkness twisted mind, had taken that to mean she hated him. He had the sense to know otherwise, eventually, but he never did figure out why the name on his wrist changed.

(Sora’s name remained on Kairi’s wrist, though—and that’s the funny thing. You really shouldn’t define the term “soulmate” to one meaning, and certainly not to one name.)

 

 

**xxx**

Sora’s Shadow had the name Sora on both wrists, and did since the moment he was created. He didn’t know what that meant for a long time, but, he was lucky his clothing choices happened to cover the names.

Once he figured out what that meant, he’d hated it, been ashamed, been terrified—similar feelings he would’ve felt without the names, except, now he couldn’t escape it. He couldn’t hide it. He could never forget or squash his feelings because they were always there on his wrist, glaring up at him.

And, perhaps, when it came to his final battle with Sora, all it took to explain why he wanted this to be over was a simple tug of his glove off his left hand, exposing Sora’s name branded into his skin.

That simple action, in this case, would’ve spoken volumes more than words could’ve.

 

**xxx**

“I don’t get why your name vanished,” Sora told Kairi, in distress, the first chance he had to. So, the moment they had some time to breathe in Castle Oblivion, while Namine was being fixed, after Sora had defeated his Shadow.

“I wanna know who this Kano person is, and how they stole my spot!” Kairi said. She sounded a little annoyed. She flashed a smile at Sora, though. “But, I don’t mind,” she assured him. “Not like you had control over it, and, it’s not like I liked you like _that,_ anyway.”

“Fair,” Sora agreed, because, he’d never thought of Kairi like that, either. Platonic soulmates were a thing.

(And, technically, what he and Kairi still were—remember what I said? Silly to restrict this to just one name.)

“I hope they’re nice, whoever they are,” Sora sighed, staring down at the name Kano on his wrist.

“They better be, or I’ll punch ‘em!” Kairi pounded her fist against her palm. Sora laughed.

“Thanks for having my back.”

Kairi grinned at him. “Don’t worry. Even if my name’s not on your wrist, I always will!”

Sora grinned back.

His eyes were drawn back to his wrist, again, after a moment, though.

“Kinda miss seeing your name there,” he said. “Especially since then I didn’t have to worry about who it was! When it was you, it was you, and I knew you. I didn’t have to worry about what kind of person you’d be.”

“You still had to worry about Xehanort, though,” Kairi argued, tapping his other wrist. “Still do.”

Sora waved that away. “Nah, I know who he is now.”

“Wait, you do!?”

“Oh!” Realization hit Sora like bricks. “Oh, yeah, I do. Here. It might be better if Mickey explained…”

 

**xxx**

When Sora had met Mickey for the first time, Mickey had seen the name Xehanort on his wrist. He’d wasted no time in showing the same name on his own wrist, and then explaining who Xehanort was.

It had been a lot to take in, at the time—in Beast’s Castle, after defeating a Heartless from Sora’s nightmares—and a lot to carry, as well. He carried the knowledge of who Xehanort was for a lot longer than he might have, otherwise.

Of course, Mickey wasn’t the only other person with the name Xehanort on his wrist.

It would be a while before Sora and Kairi would meet Aqua, but when they did, they saw the name Xehanort gleaming on her right wrist. Her left wrist was bare.

There was something in her eyes they couldn’t read, as they showed her the mirror of the name Xehanort on their own wrists. Kairi wouldn’t call it surprise. Sora didn’t know Aqua well enough to comfortably say it was worry, but he might have called it resignation.

She refused to talk about it, ever, when asked. Not even Kairi could make her budge.

Unlike the rest of them, she carried the name Xehanort the same way you’d carry a scar.

 

**xxx**

“None of these names sound good?” Sora asked his Shadow, irritably. It’d been two days, and they still couldn’t settle on anything.

‘ _No, and it’s my name, isn’t it? I should get a say more than anyone!’_ his Shadow argued.

“Yeah, I know,” Sora said with a sigh. To Kairi, he relayed. “It’s not fair if we just pick one for him. It’s _his_ name. He gets a say.”

Kairi rolled her eyes. “I still think he should just suck it up already, and choose one we already tossed out!”

‘ _They all suck!’_ Sora’s Shadow protested.

“He says they suck,” Sora said, so Kairi’d be on the same page. “And, honestly, I don’t blame him. They are all kinda… sucky.”

“It’s not like choosing names is _easy_ ,” Kairi huffed.

She leaned forward in her chair, though, and pulled the name book to her again. She flipped a few pages forward, closed her eyes, and slammed her finger on the page. Then she peeked at where her finger was.

“Uh, Kano,” she said. Then she paled.

“K- _Kano_?” Sora repeated, mouth suddenly dry.

His Shadow didn’t seem to notice. ‘ _Hey, yeah, that doesn’t sound half bad. Maybe we found a winner!’_

Sora squeezed his eyes shut. He felt like he was going to be sick.

“Sora?” Kairi prompted.

“He likes it.”

‘ _Of course I do! It’s the best one we’ve come up with—no surprise, when we’re doing it like this.’_ Sora’s Shadow scoffed. Sora buried his face in his hands. ‘ _Hey, Sora, what’s wrong? Is Kano a bad name? A dumb one? Embarrassing? Sora…?’_

Worry started creeping into his tone. Sora couldn’t find any words to speak.

“Tell him he can’t use it!” Kairi said, hastily flipping to a different spot in the name book. “Here, let’s try—”

“I don’t think we can argue with fate, Kairi,” Sora groaned.

‘ _Will one of you tell me what the hell’s going on!?’_

“It’s not like it- it’s not like it has to mean something!” Kairi was beginning to sound frantic. “There are people who, y’know, end up really happy with- with someone who _isn’t_ …” She trailed off.

‘ _Isn’t what? What’s this fate bullshit? Sora, come on, this isn’t funny—’_

Sora took a deep breath.

 _I know it’s not,_ he said silently, to his Shadow. They were a frightening echo to similar words his Shadow had said, not that long ago. Even the action he repeated was similar.

He reached over, and though he did not pull off his glove, he pushed it up so the name on his left wrist was better exposed.

Kano.

The name was Kano.

Surprise, then panic, shot through Sora’s Shadow’s mind. Sora grit his teeth at the feel of it, let his glove fall back into place.

‘ _I- I don’t have to pick Kano,’_ Sora’s Shadow stammered. ‘ _I can go by something else. Really. Honestly. I- I can—’_

 _No,_ Sora protested, silently still. The thought of Kairi hearing this—worse: just half of this—burned him. _If- if you like Kano…_

_‘I don’t have to, Sora!’_

_Maybe it was meant to be._

Despite how flustered his Shadow felt, there was something else, budding in him. Hope. Of course. Because he had loved Sora before he knew what those names meant, and… Well. The names meant they were perfect for each other.

‘ _Sora, I—’_ his Shadow began. Kano began. Might as well start calling him Kano.

 _Don’t get too excited,_ Sora argued. _I’m not promising you anything. I’ll give you a chance, I’ll get to know you, but all I’ll promise you is I’ll try to be your friend. We’ll start there._ He wasn’t sure how he felt, entirely, about his Shadow. About Kano. About this. Did he… Did he really mind?

‘ _Guess we gotta get me out of here first, anyways,’_ Kano agreed.

Sora wasn’t sure if the warmth he felt building in Kano made him happy or just even more sick.

“Look, here, um. What about...” Kairi was saying, running her finger down the book.

“Forget it,” Sora told her. “Kano’s fine.”

Kairi looked up at him, met his eyes. Sora would’ve tried to convey what he was feeling to her just through his expression, but it didn’t matter. His Shadow—Kano—already knew what he was feeling, anyway. He didn’t have to keep it silent.

“I meant it,” Sora said. “I mean, like you said—it doesn’t mean we have to… _y’know._ ” He didn’t really want to say it. He didn’t, really, want to think about it. “And if he likes Kano—it’s his name. He should get to choose.”

Kairi slammed the book shut. She looked at Sora angrily.

“Fine!” she said. “Fine! I… _fine._ ”

“It’s not like he’s the only one in all the Worlds named Kano, Kairi!” Sora protested. He didn’t understand why she was acting like this. Okay, maybe he did.

“You said your name was on his wrist!” Kairi countered. She pushed herself out of her chair. “I know it doesn’t have to mean anything, but, that’s too big of a coincidence for- _for—_ ” She swallowed hard. Pounded her knuckles against the book a few times.

“Kairi, honestly…”

‘ _I don’t have to—’_ Kano began.

“No, shut up, your name is fine,” Sora told him, glaring down at his chest. He didn’t want to deal with the _both_ of them like this. “You can choose Kano. Kairi—”

“I just can’t believe my name vanished from you wrist and was replaced by _his,_ ” Kairi said. Her voice was like ice. She glared death at Sora. “ _His,_ of all names.” She shook her head, then stalked away from the table and to the door.

“Kairi, _wait!_ ”

She didn’t.

 

**xxx**

Kairi would, eventually, warm up to Kano. And, it turned out, the names did mean what they were meant to, in this case. But, that’s another story to tell. Elsewhere.

 

**xxx**

“Are you sure?” Ven asked Sora, a longing deep in his voice. He was trembling. “Are you sure they aren’t the same? Are you _sure_ that isn’t Vanitas?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s my Shadow, and no one else!” Sora argued back. He was trying to be patient—and, was grateful he’d made Kano sit out on this—but it was _hard._ It was hard, when Ven was so persistent. Why was he so persistent?

Sora’s eyes flickered to Ven’s wrists. His left was covered by a wristband, but his right had the name Vanitas branded in it. If Sora had to guess, he’d say Vanitas was on Ven’s left wrist, as well.

“It says what you think it does,” Ven mumbled, his own eyes on his wrist. Startled, Sora looked up at him. Ven’s eyes didn’t move. “I just… y’know, I hide it. Don’t want Aqua knowing. She probably saw it before, when we were younger, but I guess she forgot. It would’ve been a while ago. Especially since…”

He didn’t finish, and Sora only barely followed, but he nodded anyway.

Ven met Sora’s eyes. Something burned in them, a bright longing and desperation. There was an eagerness in his voice, when he spoke, and that scared Sora more than anything else.

“You understand, don’t you?” Ven asked. “You understand, why I have to know—”

“I’m sorry, Ven!” Sora interrupted, and, he was. He was sorry. “I wish I could help you, but. I really _really_ don’t think it’s Vanitas. _I’m sorry._ ”

Ven licked his lips. Leaned back away from Sora. All goodness in his face twisted into a dejected scowl.

“Right,” he grumbled. “That’s fine.”

 

**xxx**

The name of your soulmate rarely vanished once you’d met them. They faded randomly, if ever, before you ever got a chance to meet them. This happened, people theorized, when they died. No sense sending you looking for them when you’d never find them. But once you met them, and they passed, their name would stay as a reminder of their love.

Your rival’s name always, _always_ vanished once you’d beaten them. Once you’d met them and conquered whatever they had to throw at you.

It was a relief to all of them when the name Xehanort vanished from their wrists.

Aqua had never looked happier.


	48. (DI) A tale of Sora, Pete, and Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's something I forgot to cross-post, lmao.
> 
> "Sora and Pete's weird relationship" is among my favorite things about Dead Inside that never actually went in Dead Inside, so here's a trio of scenes dedicated to it.

**One**

When Pete said he was going grocery shopping, Sora asked if he could tag along. Anything to get out of his room for a while. (Well, he had other reasons, too.) Pete had laughed, and cracked some comment about how it might be nice to have help carrying the groceries, and had agreed. Maleficent hadn't commented. That was fine.

"Hang on, let me grab something," Sora said, once they were mostly done, and Pete was making his way towards the supermarket checkout. Pete raised his eyebrows, but Sora didn't give him time to say anything, already slipping off.

They reconvened at checkout, as Pete was finishing paying. Sora plopped the loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter he'd grabbed on the counter. Pete eyed him curiously.

"What?" Sora asked, daring Pete to tell him he couldn't. It wasn't like he was going to ask Pete to buy it for him. He had the munny for this. And since wasn't allowed a meal other than dinner…

Pete looked him up and down, then shrugged. "Guess you could use some more meat on those bones!" he laughed. "That all you buyin'?"

"All I can afford," Sora answered, curtly.

If Pete had a snarky comment to respond with, it died in his mouth. He turned and moved out of the way so Sora could make his purchase.

"Hurry up," he said, not looking at Sora. "Gotta start lugging this all back!"

**x**

**Two**

The thing about Maleficent was she was  _very_ picky, about her foods. The thing about Pete was he was no gourmet chef. The amount of meals that convened in the criteria of "something Pete could cook" and "something Maleficent approved of" was… not a lot of meals, total. It seemed that the categories "meals Maleficent approved of" and "meals Pete actually enjoyed eating" didn't have much crossover, either.

Which is how Sora found himself being led by Pete to what looked like a pretty high-end burger place.

"Uh," he said, eyeing the restaurant, and then Pete.

"I've been craving a burger for ages," Pete said in answer, scratching at his head. "Maleficent won't let me cook 'em, of course. Can you imagine  _her_ eatin' a burger?" He let out a hearty laugh at that. "Anyway, I'm getting lunch here. You can tag along."

He pushed the doors open and headed inside.

"O- oh," Sora said, a little surprised.

He hesitated a second, and then hastily followed to join Pete.

"You paying?" he asked, as he slid into the booth across from Pete.

"You expect me to rely on  _your_ piddly wallet to get me lunch?" Pete answered, and laughed. "I'm not payin' for  _your_ food though. You're on your own!"

Sora sighed, though he'd figured as much. He opened the menu to see what he could afford—and immediately grimaced. Things were  _expensive_ here. He could maybe afford an order of fries? But that would be most of the rest of his bread money, unless he could find some Heartless to get rid of. (Which was easier said than done, when neither Pete nor Maleficent wanted him killing Heartless.)

So when the waiter came to take their order, Sora sighed.

"Just a water, please," he told them.

Pete looked at him, surprised. He didn't even bother asking, clearly knowing enough about Sora's munny situation to piece everything together. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Get 'im the same thing I'm gettin'," he told the waiter.

Sora jolted, startled by the gesture of kindness.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Waiter's already gone, so it's too late to change my mind," Pete answered.

Sora sat very still, not sure what to think. He dreaded that Pete was just doing this as a favor, and that he'd owe him later. But… Pete sure wasn't acting like he had any ulterior motives to this. There was almost a twinge of pity in his eyes.

"Thanks," Sora said, ducking his head down.

Pete's voice was gruff, when he responded. "Yeah. Don't mention it."

**x**

**Three**

They were grocery shopping again. But, that was routine.

"Sorry about the food situation, by the way," Pete said, as Sora dropped his loaf of bread into the cart. "Dunno why Maleficent's so against feedin' ya. Unless it's just 'cuz it's not like we can afford it." He let out a long sigh, here. "Wish I  _could_  fork over the munny to feed ya, but gourmet food is  _expensive_."

Sora chuckled a little, feeling Pete's pain. He'd gotten familiar with Pete's munny-related grumbling, after all these grocery trips together. And… Pete wasn't so bad, really. At least  _he_ was decent enough to worry about feeding Sora, even if he couldn't do anything about it.

"That's alright," Sora told Pete. "I'm surviving."

Surviving as well as one could when they ate nothing but peanut butter sandwiches for a month, anyway. He was still allowed dinner, most nights, but… eating it was harder, lately, when he was so tired of Pete's cooking. (It wasn't Pete's fault, though, really.)

"Speaking of, you got any new dinner ideas?" Pete asked, looking hopefully down at Sora. "Otherwise it's just spaghetti for the rest of the week."

Sora groaned.

"Well, is there a fish market around here?" he asked. He remembered a few of his mom's recipes.

Pete laughed. "There's fish in the meat isle!" he said, steering them that direction.

Sora scrunched up his face in confusion, because, how could there  _not_ be a fish market? Then he remembered this store wasn't on an island. The thought made him sour, and the sight of the fish—all packaged and processed—made him more so. After a few minutes, and after Pete snapped at him for being picky, he picked out something that didn't look totally inedible, and then moved to see if he could find any spices that were even close to what his mom used.

Hopefully Maleficent wouldn't hate it. But then, she had to be as tired of Pete's cooking as the rest of them were.


	49. (NF) In which oh god there's TWENTY FIVE of them??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku runs into his first Larxene Replica.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I managed to sit on this scene for like, probably a couple years? Anyway it's very good, enjoy. (You can see the rest of how this scene goes, from Xion's POV, in [Nothing's Fair chapter 9!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10956369/chapters/24386886))

Riku sighed, tracing his fingers over the piece of paper he held—a picture from Namine. A gift, in a way, though it’d been rather spur of the moment at the time. He hadn’t even realized he had it. Or, he hadn’t until he stuck his hands in his pockets and his fingers had brushed it.

He wasn’t really thinking about much. About home, a little, and about Namine, of course. In hindsight, he wasn’t so sure about what he’d gotten himself into… Finding Sora was one thing. But a Rebellion? That was more than he’d—

He jolted at the familiar sound of heeled boots clicking on the floor. Larxene’s footsteps. But that was… impossible. She was dead. He’d killed her himself—and it couldn’t be the Larxene from the other universe! She was dead, too, and had no way over here even if she _was_ alive!

Regardless, the click of her shoes continued, and Riku had to look up. To his absolute horror, there she was. The air constricted around him. His heart refused to beat another beat. She was _dead._ What was she? _How_ was she? This wasn’t?

“What are _you_ staring at?” she asked, sending him a rather disgusted look. Honestly, her tone was more annoyed than cruel, but he hardly registered anything besides the fact that she was talking at him. He didn’t even really hear her words.

“Wh- what are you _d-doing_ here?!” he demanded. If he was a wire, then he was taut and ready to snap.

“Well it _is_ Replica HQ,” she replied.

_Replica…_

_HQ…_

His heart leapt to his throat. He thought he might faint.

There were… Larxene… _Replicas…_ And it was likely Replicas, _plural._ He hadn’t seen a single singular Replica—there was always more than one of them. Why wouldn’t there be more than one of her? Of all universes he had to end up in, he had to end up in the one with _more than one Larxene,_ hadn’t he?

“Hey!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. His stomach flipped so hard he thought he might puke. “Are you listening to me?”

He was going to die. His heart was going to explode. That’s what it must’ve been preparing to do, with how hard it was beating. Eventually it’d beat so hard it’d explode. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t rather it, either, compared to this. Sitting here, paralyzed with fear, too scared to do anything. It was an embarrassment.

And yet, all he could do was smack her hand aside and jump to his feet. “Stay away from me!” he screamed, taking off at a run. He had no idea where he was running to. Just so long as it was away from her.


	50. (ATR) In which Kano and Namine have a chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was initially going to be a scene in/around ATR ch107, but no matter what I did it was just going to tank my pacing. And while this is a fun, cute convo, there was nothing in it that I couldn't establish in a separate chapter through a different scene, so into ASAS it goes.

Sora was at Namine’s, which meant Kano was curled up in Sora’s heartspace, since Sora wanted to try and spend some time alone with Namine. Kano was just getting comfortable on the couch he’d summoned, pillow clutched to his chest, when Sora’s voice and mental nudge reached out to him.

‘ _Hey, Namine wants to talk to you?’_ Sora said, his voice pitched a little with uncertainty.

Kano scowled and sat upright. “Wh- what?” he asked. He didn’t have to say it at any kind of special volume; Sora heard him just fine, as if he’d been here. (Kano kind of wished he was here. He ached for a closeness they hadn’t shared in at least a week now, ached to curl up next to Sora and—)

‘ _Look honestly I don’t know why either but she’s pretty insistent, says she has something to ask you,’_ Sora said.

That wasn’t comforting or helpful at all. “Ohhhhh kaaayyyyy,” Kano said slowly, dragging the sound out. This did not sound like his idea of a fun time. Nor did he see why he had to bother? And, to make things worse:

‘ _Also I think she wants to talk to JUST you,’_ Sora said. ‘ _So I’m gonna have to buzz out.’_

“Oh well that’s comforting,” Kano snapped, sarcastic.

‘ _Sorry!!’_ Sora answered, and he sounded really genuine. A thread of disappointment and concern flowed across their link. ‘ _I wish I could stick around, too_.’ _And help you and support you_ were the unsaid but still conveyed intentions behind that, and _geeze_ Kano wasn’t sure he needed those things that badly! He… appreciated Sora’s concern, though.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Kano said, and pulled himself out of the heartspace and into the back of Sora’s mind. Immediately he lost all sense of having his own body and instead felt a vague echo of Sora’s body in the physical space, his vision blurring and then settling into what Sora saw—

Namine, sitting on the bed with her legs folded to the side. Sora was sitting on the floor for some stupid reason. That didn’t help Kano’s comfort levels, but he wasn’t going to _move_ , so he guessed this was just his life now.

‘ _You good to go?’_ Sora asked.

Kano took a deep breath and slid into total control of Sora’s body instead of answering right away. _I guess,_ he told Sora, and then because Namine looked like she was waiting, he figured he should probably let her know it was him now and not Sora anymore.

“Uh,” he said, and then had to clear his throat. “Kano here?”

(Damnit, that wasn’t _supposed_ to sound like a question.)

“Hi Kano!” Namine said, and it was… strangely warm. Alright. Weird. “Sora can’t hear now, can he?”

“Uhh,” Kano answered, then sent a hasty _go, go!_ towards Sora to get him to leave.

‘ _You’ll do great!’_ Sora told him and _okay_ he didn’t even need encouragement like that, so the warmth in his chest could take a fucking hike. Sora became a slightly distant buzz not long after that as he stifled their link and probably hopped into the heartspace to further dilute it.

Kano waited a few more seconds _just_ to be sure, then:

“Yeah, alright,” he told Namine. “What’s up?

He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice, but he couldn’t help it. why in the worlds did she want to talk to _him?_ They barely knew each other! Granted there was that one time where he snooped on her life out of curiosity but that was ages ago and didn’t really count. Anyway. He’d only ever really interacted with her otherwise when Sora was around to mediate, and even then it was really just Sora going “ _haha Kano said something funny”_ and then Namine going “ _haha tell Kano this_ ” so basically all around this was awkward.

Very, incredibly awkward.

“Hey, sorry,” Namine said, seeming to sense Kano’s discomfort. “I promise it won’t be long, I just had a quick question I wanted to ask that I didn’t see the point in asking Sora if Kairi couldn’t get him to answer it.”

“Uh. What.” Kano squinted up at her. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well… no, I guess not to you,” Namine admitted, pressing a knuckle to her chin. “But uh. Regardless. I have a question. Oh wait is it rude to start with it?”

“Fuck if I care, I’d rather get this over with.”

A second later Kano realized how that must have sounded.

“I mean! I’m not trying to be rude either but, man if you have something specific to say I’d rather you go ahead and say it rather than like, make me sit here in anticipation while we try and bullshit our way through small talk.”

Namine laughed.

“That’s fair.”

“Also sorry I said fuck.”

“Kairi says it all the time, it’s fine.”

“Oh.”

“ _Anyway_.” Namine slid off the bed to join Kano on the floor—maybe she’d sensed his discomfort? (He hated being pitied but he couldn’t deny he was grateful.) She leaned towards Kano with a kind of earnestness as she spoke. “I just wanted to ask like… Have you noticed anything going on with Sora lately? You seemed the most likely to know, since you’re always with him.” Kano opened his mouth to answer, but then Namine added: “Oh. Kairi hasn’t asked you this already has she.”

“Yes,” Kano said, because he’d already started. Then he processed Namine’s last question. “I mean no. No she hasn’t.”

Namine let out a small sigh of relief. “Okay good, because I’m really only asking because Kairi wanted me to.” She laughed a little, and then: “Was that… a yes to something being up with Sora?”

“Um, yeah,” Kano repeated. He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, so he just placed them against his—Sora’s—knees and drummed his fingers against them. “Yeah it’s definitely. There’s definitely. Hmm.” He hadn’t thought about needing to explain it before, wasn’t sure where to begin. “Kairi’s worried about this?” he asked instead, because that registered as more interesting to know.

Namine nodded. “Yeah! She said she couldn’t get Sora to tell her anything about it.”

Relief hit Kano in waves.

“Oh good, then it’s not just me.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh.” Kano coughed, not used to having to explain his thoughts. Explaining them to Namine was also definitely like, weird, but. He supposed since he’d said that aloud he at least owed her a brief explanation, right? That’s how this worked? So uh: “I was just afraid whatever he’s hiding he just, didn’t want _me_ to know.”

Kano admitted to himself that while he was very relieved and no longer jealous about the idea that Sora maybe had told someone else, he supposed… Sora was _allowed_ to, like, not tell him things. It was just weird.

Everything about how Sora was acting lately was weird.

“Looks like he’s hiding it from everyone,” Namine said, with a shrug.

“Damn.”

Kano was glad it wasn’t just him who wasn’t getting the truth, but also having no clue what was going on with Sora at all wasn’t exactly the preferred outcome.

“Got any ideas on what it might be…?” Namine pressed, in a close imitation of what Kairi might have sounded like, asking a similar question. The thought brought a laugh to Kano’s lips, small and fond.

(Maybe he should get to know Namine a little better. She was best friends with two people he loved dearly…)

“Do you?” Namine pressed again, when Kano didn’t answer right away.

Kano quickly shook his head, both to clear it and answer her question.

“Not… really…” he said. He thought over it a little more, what he knew and what he’d noticed, just to make sure.

What he knew was this:

More than half of Sora’s thoughts were blocked off from him, now.

Sora often felt like a pot about to boil over.

And then… There was whatever was going on in the heartspace lately. Which like, it felt weird to count that as something that was wrong, but it kept nagging at Kano. The way Sora kept holding himself back—an effort that looked like it was killing him every time—which was odd, because Sora was usually very casual, very careless with his actions. Was the restraint for Kano’s sake? Or was it for another reason?

Kano would admit that Sora being the incredibly affectionate and incredibly cuddly person he was was often overwhelming, but… Sora hadn’t needed to dial it back _that_ much.

Anyway that was mostly a different train of thought, and Kano really should just get back to the conversation at hand.

“I have no idea,” he told Namine. “He’s just been acting kinda weird.”

“Have you asked him about it?” she said. “Maybe if you tried talking to him…”

Kano rolled his eyes. “You think I haven’t?” he asked, though, alright, he’d only talked to Sora about it twice. And he hadn’t pried very hard either time. But still, it wasn’t like he could ask Sora what was wrong and Sora’d just magically tell him! From the feeling of things, whatever was going on, Kano was the _last_ person Sora wanted to tell about it.

(But also the first? But also he couldn’t?? At least, those were things Kano’d overheard from Sora at random intervals, when the mental blocks had been a little weaker and thoughts had slipped through the cracks.)

“Well if he’s not telling you, and he’s not telling Kairi, then I’m all out of ideas,” Namine sighed, looking defeated.

“Sorry,” Kano said, and he was. “Trust me, I _wish_ I knew what was up.”

He was starting to get concerned about Sora. Maybe he… _would_ talk to Sora again about it. Perhaps Sora would actually tell him if he did more than half-ass the question.

(Whatever was going on, Kano hoped it wasn’t… something _he’d_ done.)

Namine hummed to herself, folding her hands in her lap. “Well…” And she dragged the sound out for a moment. “That was uh, all I had to ask you. So I guess if you want to, um… Go back to whatever it was you were doing?”

“Oh,” Kano said. He cleared his throat. “Actually, uh… would you mind if I hung out?”

Namine looked a little surprised, but not at all upset by the notion, which was a huge relief. She shrugged, her expression kind. “I mean. If you want to.”

“Cool,” Kano said, drumming his hands against his knees in a quick rhythm.

He had… no idea how well this was going to go, but he supposed if things started heading south, he could just drag Sora up to help him co-pilot. But first…

“Hey, does Aerith have any cookies?” he asked. Was he using his time in Sora’s body to eat all the snacks Sora wouldn’t otherwise? Absolutely. “Because I would kill for some chocolate right now.”

Namine giggled, hiding it behind her hand. It was a nice sound. (Kano could see why Sora thought she was cute.) “I don’t know about cookies, but…” She got to her feet, a twinkle in her eyes. “Let’s see what we can do.”


	51. (ATR) In which Sora and Kano talk about Sora's ass for 0.5 seconds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a section of ATR ch110, but ended up ruining the flow a lil bit. Happens before ch110, at some point. Absolutely canon.

“Okay but first, important question,” Sora says.

Kano raises his eyebrows at him. “Yeah?”

“Were you and Kairi talking about my _ass_ the other night?”

Kano stops. Starts to blush.

“N. no,” he says. (He’s not very convincing)

“Don’t deny it, you both totally were!” Sora counters, because, he can like, see Kano’s memories if Kano’s act wasn’t unconvincing enough (and Kano, knows that, but still.)

“Were not,” Kano lies.

“What, you think it’s hot?” Sora asks and he may pat his own butt.

“Oh my god.” Kano wants death.

“WELL??” Sora asks, expectant.

(Nothing but dumb teens, they are.)

“Listen.” Kano says, he knows he’s not getting out of it, he’s red as a beet. “First of all, she started it! Second of all—”

“Oh my god you _do._ ”

“HEY! You’re one to talk!!” Kano counters, embarrassed and hot (and bothered) “Don’t even get me _started_ on the thoughts I know _you’re_ sitting on!”

Sora slowly starts blushing and going red as the thoughts, cross his mind, he feels his puberty creeping up on him, all the idle wistful kind of sometimes explicit thoughts he’s thought about most of his friends in turn and he starts making a face and craving death ( _oh god Kano saw those well of course he saw them ohhh goodddd_ ) and like puts a hand over his face and starts shaking his head and, okay, okay Kano wins this argument.

“OKAY FAIR?” he squeaks.

“And since I very politely don’t grill you on those maybe you can do me the favor of not grilling me on similarly incriminating material and go back to pretending you don’t remember me remembering that conversation I definitely did not have with Kairi.”

“AGREED WE WON’T SPEAK OF IT AGAIN ANYWAY SUBJECT CHANGE.”


	52. (ATR) Objectively bad, but still good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was smad that I didn't get to write Sora and Kano kissing in ATR ch110 (which if you haven't read yet please stop everything and do so) and so I wrote this to compensate.

All things considered, hanging out with Kano was _a lot_ easier now that Sora wasn’t trying to hide half a million thoughts and feelings. It was nice, also, to not have to shy away from touching Kano because he was afraid of the gay thought spirals that would follow. Now he could literally relish in those. He could drape himself across Kano all he wanted—well, as long as Kano didn’t mind, but Sora was pretty sure Kano rarely minded and only ever protested for show.

Right now they were curled up together in a cocoon of pillows, soft and warm on all sides, a blanket above their heads making the dimness of the heartspace even dimmer. Sora thought it was intimate and beautiful. He’d ditched the construct of a beach—even if the sand was fake, Kano was right when he said it was the opposite of ideal for pillow forts—and the heartspace cradled them as it was, stained glass below and warm darkness above. Waves beat against the stained-glass pillar somewhere below, though, a distant sound that Sora’d been surprised was just as soothing to Kano as it was to him. “ _The Dark Margin had waves, too,”_ Kano’d reminded him. “ _I always liked how the sound could block out my thoughts if I let it_.”

“I missed… this,” Kano said in the current moment. It was hard for him to be eloquent about these things, Sora knew, but Kano didn’t have to be eloquent. Sora would have probably understood him even if his thoughts didn’t reverberate through the heartspace, even if they didn’t have a link between their minds that let them share thoughts. Kano was referring to their closeness, which Sora had also missed, as well as Sora being affectionate, which Sora couldn’t miss himself—being on the giving end—but he definitely didn’t miss the burning, awful feeling of trying to hold himself back.

Sora’s face was pressed into Kano’s neck, his head tucked under Kano’s chin, and while he could mumble his response into Kano’s skin, it was easier to just say ‘ _Yeah me too,_ ’ silently. Kano laughed at his laziness, and _hoooolyyyy shit,_ the sensation of it reverberating through his throat against Sora’s cheek was actually wonderful. Sora hummed in delight and nuzzled closer. He loved this so much.

Kano’s laughter became a high-pitched, startled sound for a single note. Unthinkingly Sora turned his head and pressed his lips to Kano’s throat, causing Kano to repeat the sound. The sensation of it beneath his lips was fucking _gorgeous._ Something hot and urgent fell into Sora’s stomach. He pushed himself closer to Kano, even though their bodies were already as flush against each other as possible, crushing their intertwined hands between their chests. Kano gripped Sora’s hands like they were a lifeline. Sora was probably going to lose feeling in them soon, but he didn’t care, he didn’t care. He never wanted to move.

Except then he became aware that Kano was still making that noise, high-pitched and persistent and while his vocal chords vibrating against Sora’s mouth felt amazing Sora realized that Kano’s Cute Startled Sound was usually a short thing and there was something about _this_ whine that was almost uncomfortable. So Sora pulled away from Kano, even though he ached to do the exact opposite.

As he searched Kano’s face he saw that Kano looked dizzy, eyes a little glazed and fixed on the blanket ceiling somewhere behind Sora’s head. He’d stopped whining, but he looked twice as breathless as Sora felt.

“Too much?” Sora asked, sheepish.

Kano blinked a few times. His eyes never quite came back into focus. He wet his lips. “Not. Not enough,” he answered, his voice raspy.

Sora laughed in surprise. “Holy shit, really?”

Kano nodded numbly.

“I _definitely_ got the sense that I was overwhelming you.”

Kano licked his lips again. “A little bit, yeah,” he admitted, and Sora tried to focus on the words and not the heat burning on his neck and the urgency throbbing in his gut. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Kano’s lips. His mind spun with how badly he wanted to kiss them. But they were moving because Kano was still saying things and Sora had to _listen,_ so he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment—

“I just don’t want you to hold back,” Kano said, and the intensity of that desire slammed against Sora through their link, knocking the air right out of his lungs. “I want. To feel. The _weight_ of your love pressed into my… …bones.”

 _Bones_ was absolutely not the word he’d first thought.

Sora opened his eyes, a grin tugging at his face. Kano lay there, blushing furiously and embarrassment coming off him in waves. He kept his gaze averted from Sora.

“You were going to say mouth, right?” Sora asked, one part teasing, one part just to make sure.

The way Kano blushed harder made Sora grin so hard his face hurt, but hurt in a _good_ way, as excitement boiled in his veins. Kano squeezed his eyes shut, looking mortified, but their link—open and blaring—keyed Sora into the desire that raged in Kano’s gut. Sora licked his own lips.

“Well dang, dude,” he said. “Then why don’t we just…”

He extricated his hands from Kano’s and cupped Kano’s face with them just like he wanted to. Kano’s cheeks were so soft and warm. Sora’s heart pounded furiously in his chest. He leaned in. Kano leaned in. Their lips met in the middle.

There was absolutely no way it was an objectively good kiss, but the sensation of it was absolutely, indisputably _good._ Sora had no idea what he was supposed to do, and from the feel of things neither did Kano, but just the _closeness,_ the warmth and softness of Kano’s lips, the feeling of his heart in his throat and his lungs so tight he couldn’t breathe—That was beautiful. That was perfect. Butterflies fluttered in Sora’s chest, and when he finally pulled away to breathe Kano made that strangled sound of joy that Sora _adored_ and…

Sora pressed his forehead to Kano’s, trying to catch his breath. A small smile played on Kano’s still parted lips. He looked so _happy,_ and Sora was absolutely over the moon.

“That was… good,” he whispered.

“Really, _really_ good,” Kano agreed.

Kano wrapped an arm around Sora, fingers grasping curls of Sora’s hair. The contact made Sora’s face flush even hotter than it had been before. He closed his eyes and let Kano pull him in for another kiss.

It was—they still had no idea what they were doing, but Sora found the way their lips fit together and savored it. Kano pulled Sora into it, fingers digging into Sora’s scalp. Sora felt like he was on fire. He ran his thumb along the curve of Kano’s ear, because it felt… intimate. Nice. Reminded him of how close they were. Joy swelled up in his chest so strongly he forgot about trying to kiss good and laughed in delight. Pressing his grinning mouth against Kano’s lips was nothing like a kiss at all but Sora did it anyway, savoring every second of their closeness, every second of this moment.

Kano laughed too, then squirmed away as well as he could, pushing at Sora’s chest with his free hand and untangling his other from Sora’s hair.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” he said, though he was still laughing.

“Sorry,” Sora said, though he wasn’t really. He just wanted to keep pressing his lips to Kano’s skin—maybe Kano’s face, maybe Kano’s neck. All he knew was the dizzying desire to be close close close but Kano was holding him firmly at arms-length now, so maybe that was enough even though it didn’t feel like it at all.

“I know I said I wanted you to overwhelm me but holy shit I think I’m gonna explode,” Kano said. His eyes were wide and unfocused, though he was grinning sloppily. “Also don’t apologize because that was fucking _amazing_.”

Love bloomed in Sora’s chest as he let his head fall onto the pillows under him, tracing the frame of Kano’s face once before letting his hands fall away. Ugh, he loved this boy so _stupidly_ much.

“I’m glad we can do this,” he said, meaning it with every fiber in his bones. “I’m glad we did it?? Thanks.”

Kano rolled his eyes and shook his head, exasperation overriding his giddiness. “You’re _thanking_ me?!” he asked, voice squeaking in disbelief. “You’re such a dork!!”

Despite his exasperation there was such a deep _fondness_ in his words and his voice and the smile he couldn’t quite hide. Sora absolutely _basked_ in it, soaking it up like a cat would a warm patch of sunlight. The fondness that bounced back and forth across their link, multiplying exponentially, made Sora want to grab Kano by the face and kiss him again. But Kano said enough was enough so he settled for grabbing one of Kano’s hands and rolling onto his back, though he kept his face tilted towards Kano.

“I love you,” he said. He couldn’t possibly say it enough.

Kano reached out and ran his fingers over Sora’s jaw. Sora leaned into his touch, his heart skipping in delight.

“I… love you too,” Kano said. His voice broke over the words, face pinched like this love was the heaviest thing he’d ever carried. Sora hoped one day he wouldn’t find the love to be so heavy at all. But… baby steps. Baby steps.

For now Sora squeezed Kano’s hand tight and basked in the beauty of this moment.


	53. (ATR) Roxas just got norted, here's him getting used to it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this and then never could commit to finishing it (getting stuck at the end of the first scene) and also deemed it wasn't important enough to worry about getting unstuck on. It _is_ canon, though unfinished, which is why it's going in ASAS and not scraps. (The only questionable canon thing is the list of potential norts, but I think this early on Aqua hadn't quite made it on Xehanort's list yet. Roxas had to go fight her, first.)

Roxas was a surprisingly accepting vessel. Of course, he’d been built to be perfect, and despite his regained memories, the programming largely held intact. The memories were not an issue now, either. Driven by a desire to see Xion again, never mind how or through what means, Roxas had easily agreed to this fate.

As for how Roxas felt…

It was only a small tickle in the back of his mind that maybe this wasn’t, right. But he’d been built with this purpose in mind, so a part of him had always anticipated this outcome.

It was not quite a full takeover, either, though Xehanort occupied more of Roxas than he did of Braig. Roxas was still there, not stifled or smothered like Terra had been. He was there, and he was… adjusting. It would take time before both parts of him would work in perfect sync, Xehanort knew. It’d taken Braig some time, too.

So, still mulling over how he fit into this puzzle, and what the puzzle as a whole added up to, Roxas kicked his feet back and casually twirled one of his Keyblades beside him. The black one—Oblivion. Oathkeeper still would not come on its own. He considered… Braig and Xehanort carefully, determining how to get on the same page as them. (His mind had stumbled over what to call them for a second there. _Masters_ was wrong, even if they were not quite _equals,_ and while he knew they were all faucets of the same person at this point, calling them _himself_ also felt wrong.)

“So… thirteen vessels to create some big Keyblade War, huh?” he asked. There were only three of them sitting here, but inside him he knew who else was on the list to go after. His eyebrows shot up a fraction of an inch at the list of names. Sora was to be expected, though he thought Sora might be a longshot, at this point. He’d recovered quite drastically from his previous stint with the darkness. Riku was not a surprising target, either, but Roxas still grimaced at the thought of him, working with him. He knew it was not solely Riku’s fault that Xion had died, but as established, Programming was hard to fight sometimes. He had no idea who Kano was, just that made six of them total, if things all went to plan.

Wait, there was a fourth name on the list, and this one made Roxas’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. But, of course, what could be Rewritten once could be Rewritten again. And it would leave fewer reasons for Riku to resist…

“That’s the plan, kiddo,” Braig replied. “You wanna help me convince the bossman that we’re gonna need the Replica Program to fill a couple of slots?”

“I never said no to the Replica Program, Braig,” Xehanort argued, laughing a little. “I only said we should wait until we have a couple more names in our ranks.”

The Replica Program. The smile on Roxas’s face disintegrated.

“Xion will be one of us, won’t she, when we bring her back?”

The Roxas part of him didn’t quite like the sound of that. The Xehanort part of him told him it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

 

**xxx**

 

 “So are we gonna get rid of that program thing that’s making me itch to kill heartless??” Roxas asks. “I mean, your artificial Kingdom Hearts is dead, unless I’ve started a new one with all the heartless I’ve been killing without knowing.” He looks at Xehanort, kind of on his seat, totally uncertain and very curious to know.

Xehanort shakes his head. “No, the spells funneling the hearts into one spot would’ve all collapsed when that Kingdom Hearts did.”

“Oh is _that_ how you were doing it?” Braig asks. Xehanort nods.

“Okay but seriously,” Roxas interrupts. “Can we still get rid of this itch to kill heartless because I can’t go three hours without fighting one and we’re getting to that three hour point.” Roxas is rocking a little in his seat.

“We don’t have anyone to run the program for us, sport,” Braig tells him. “You’re out of luck until I can hunt down a Vexen.”

“Is it just heartless?” Xehanort asks, focusing on the more immediate problem. “Would killing nobodies sate the urge?”

Roxas shakes his head. “Nope.”

Xehanort shrugs.

“Well, alright, you remember the training room,” he says, gets to his feet. “I’ll summon some heartless there for you.”

“You aren’t gonna let me go find my own batch somewhere in the worlds?” Roxas asks, but he knows the reason is _Xehanort doesn’t want to let me out of his sight_. “Keeping me locked up, are you?”

“This is just for a few days, you know that,” Xehanort assures him, smiling gently.

 _Until we’re sure this holds,_ the Xehanort part of him tells Roxas, and Roxas nods and shrugs, understanding it.

Then something else occurs to Roxas.

“Hey, wait, does this mean _I_ can summon heartless now?” he asks.

Xehanort considers it.

Exchanges glances with Braig.

Braig shrugs.

(They both can, so why shouldn’t Roxas?)

“Well, I suppose it does,” Xehanort says. “Would you like to learn how to now, or would you like to kill some first?”

“As long as there’s heartless killing involved I couldn’t care less,” Roxas says.


	54. (ATR) In which Sora and Kano go on a date!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the date Sora and Kano go on after ATR111. It uh, was supposed to have them actually clothes shopping in it, but I fell off my writing high and figured it was better to just post what I had instead of letting it sit around until I probably never decided I wanted to add anything to it! Please enjoy these gay dorks in love.

_On the bright side, now we can get you some actual clothes,_ Sora thought into a moment where he was probably supposed to be paying attention to other things. Aqua’d tried to split him and Kano, and failed, but, hey, this was only the second time she’d tried? And as much as Sora wanted to be separate, wanted to hold Kano’s hand right now instead of making a special trip to his heartspace to do so, it was a lot more bearable when he wasn’t trying to sit on how much he loved Kano.

‘ _What?’_ Kano said, like he hadn’t been following. Maybe he’d been paying attention to what was going on around them. Oops. Kairi and Aqua and Vexen would be fine for two seconds, though.

 _I mean like, you COULD borrow some of my clothes? But I don’t think I have a lot of extras, so we were gonna have to buy you clothes at some point,_ Sora explained. _Now we can have some ready for when you have your own body again!_

Kano saw the point behind that, then caught on to the rest of Sora’s train of thought. ‘ _Wait like, you wanna go NOW?’_

Sora nodded. _I mean, when we’re done here. Why not!_

Kano laughed, quiet and reverberating through Sora’s mindspace in a way that filled him with warmth and longing. ‘ _Alright, sure,_ ’ he said. Sora could have melted underneath the heat of his fondness.

 

**xxx**

 

Their first stop in Twilight Town, actually, was the ice cream shop.

“One second, let me pick,” Sora told the lady at the counter, eyes flickering over the menu, even though his attention was really fixed on Kano. _What flavor you want?_ he asked, silently. The ice cream was for Kano, because Sora knew Kano liked sweet things and ice cream especially, and Sora liked treating Kano.

‘ _Sora, you don’t have to…’_ Kano tried to protest.

 _I want to, dummy,_ Sora insisted. He liked how he could send Kano reeling with gestures like this, liked the flustered kind of tenderness that wrapped around Kano when he did. He wanted to shower Kano with gifts and affection until Kano stopped pushing back against the idea of such things.

Kano stuttered uselessly for a few moments, and Sora waited, pretending to be considering the menu very seriously. He hoped the ice cream lady didn’t think too much about the smile he couldn’t quite wipe off his face.

‘ _Chocolate,’_ Kano said, finally, sounding like he was embarrassed.

Sora only just held down a chuckle. _Should’ve known,_ he said back, teasing, but mostly fond, hoping to convey to Kano that it was absolutely valid to be predictable about ice cream flavors. He asked the lady for a fudgsicle, paid, then handed control of his body over to Kano so Kano could enjoy the ice cream.

‘ _How we gonna shop while also eating ice cream,_ ’ Kano asked, discarding the wrapper and heading towards the shops. He spoke silently, of course, seeing as his mouth was full of ice cream.

 _Oh we aren’t!_ Sora told him, laughing that he’d forgot to mention. _We’re just gonna chill with the ice cream for a while. I mean, this is a date._

Kano almost choked. Sora cringed as well as one could in the metaphysical space, feeling a little bad.

 _Well it IS,_ he insisted, burning with excitement.

Kano didn’t answer right away, too mentally and physically occupied with trying to keep himself from inhaling ice cream. Sora waited, fond and patient, riding the wave of bubbly happiness that rose up in Kano as he realized this _was,_ in fact, a date, and what that _meant_. Sora would have bounced with the excitement of it, had he been piloting his body.

Maybe it was a stupid thing, to get excited about, but. This was a date!! He and Kano were on a date!! He wished again that they could both have ice cream and could walk while holding hands and other sappy stuff like that, but this was a start.

 _Sorry shopping isn’t exactly the most fancy of first dates,_ Sora said, apologetic. He was so happy this was happening, though. And he got the feeling that Kano felt the same. Already, Kano was altering his course to take a more scenic route around Twilight Town, so they could take their time and enjoy the date.

‘ _Aren’t pillow forts our first date, just like, objectively?’_ Kano countered.

 _Those don’t count,_ Sora argued. They hadn’t been officially dating yet, so _this_ was their first official first date.

Kano grimaced. “They should,” he grumbled, aloud.

 _They don’t,_ Sora insisted.

Kano scoffed and rolled his eyes, then shrugged. He paused before saying anything more, taking another bite of ice cream again. Sora let him enjoy it, because Kano deserved even the little things like good ice cream. He _especially_ deserved things like good ice cream.

‘ _Once we’re done shopping,’_ Kano said, after a moment. ‘ _I wanna build a pillow fort, just so I can definitely say they were part of our first date_.’

Sora laughed, startled, but fond. _Really??_

Kano was ridiculous. Sora loved him.

‘ _Come on, Sora, you gonna argue with your boyfriend like that?’_ Kano said, and ohhhh, _ohhhh,_ holy shit, he’d said the b-word.

( _Boyfriend! Boyfriend!! They were boyfriends!!_ )

 _No,_ Sora admitted, dying, grinning so widely that it showed on his face even though Kano was in control of it. Love filled him so much he was certain he couldn’t contain it. He was so glad he didn’t have to.

‘ _Good,’_ Kano said, smug, though it felt a little bit like he was reeling under the joy of this realization as well, the joy of what they _were._

‘It’s hard to say no to pillow forts,’ is what Sora could have said, but instead he said: _It’s hard to say no to you,_ all of his love and fondness shaping around his mental voice as he pressed up against Kano’s half of their shared mindspace.

Kano almost choked again.

It was worth it.


End file.
